Avitansh Sharma

Philosophy 4
Quit SmokingOr Not?
3. In this essay I will be exploring the Harm Principle and its relation to the question
Should there be laws against the sale and/or use of hard drugs such as heroin? Essentially,
Mill describes the Harm Principle to be that people should be able to act freely without any
consequences so long as they do not harm anyone around them. With this definition of the Harm
Principle, I will argue in my essay that Mill believes that the sale and/or use of drugs should not
be prohibited by the government.
Before analyzing whether Mill believes the government should intervene in the use
and/or sale of drugs, Mills description of government regulation (Harm Principle) must be
analyzed deeper. He states that the only reason to limit a persons freedom is to prevent harm to
others (Mill 18). With this thought Mill endorses the idea that so long as someone is acting by
himself with no visible harm to others, that person should be allowed to proceed onward without
being stopped. Even if this means committing harm to oneself, Mill states that one cannot tell
someone else what he shall not do with his life (Mill 43). Each person should be allowed to
make their own choices, even if these decisions may seem morally wrong to others. Therefore
laws should not be put into place forbidding a person from committing a certain action so long as
that action is not harming anyone besides the person committing the action. When discussing
Mills Harm Principle, it is important to note that those being taken care of by others like
children (Mill 19) and backwards states of society (Mill 19) are left out of this principle. This
means that the argument of whether hard drugs should be legalized will affect only those in
manhood or womanhood and are also able-bodied individuals.
With this definition of Mills Harm Principle, I believe that the Harm Principle would
believe that there should be no laws banning the use and/or sale of hard drugs. With hard drugs
like cocaine, the repercussions mentally and physically are well known. In an article submitted to
StarLite by Mckayla Arnold, it talks about how many drugs can causes liver damage, make your
body unable to fight off infection, and many other health problems. These hard drugs even
cause people to put themselves into unsafe situations like agreeing to unsafe sex. (Arnold).
Beyond the health issues however, there are also many moral issues seen with hard drugs with
many looking down on the users of hard drugs.
With the first argument purported by people who disagree with the consumption of drugs,
the problems one induces upon themselves should not be the problems of the government. These
health problems fall under the Harm Principle. These problems are not affecting anyone besides
the user. Therefore, the government should not create any laws banning the use/sale of these
hard drugs within the public. It is also important to note that similar health problems arise with
the consumption of alcohol yet alcohol is not banned from public use. According to the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH), alcohol consumption interferes with the
brains communication pathways, and takes a toll on the liver and can lead to a variety of
problems (Alcohols Effect on the Body). Despite all the similarities between alcohol and

drugs, alcohol, while limited a little, is still legal while hard drugs are heavily regulated against
and are even illegal. If a person is allowed to consume alcohol and knowingly acknowledge that
there are increasing the risk of causing self-harm to themselves, then the government should not
be able to tell people that they are not allowed to take drugs that have very similar health
problems to alcohol.
The second argument against the legalization of drugs is that the majority of society
believe that the consumption of drugs are bad and there are also negative stereotypical names
associated with users of hard drugs like crack-head and meth-head. An organization named
Say No to Drugs claim that Criminals manufacture and sell drugs, (An Effective Drug
Education And Drug Prevention Program) and that all people associated with drugs are therefore
criminals and have an ill effect on society. In Mills harm principle however he states that we
have a rightto act upon our unfavorable opinion, (Mill 75) of someone and that we are not
bound to see his society (Mill 75). Even though the public has labeled the users of these drugs
to be seen as these careless and reckless human beings, the government should not punish these
individuals just because some members of society do not like seeing crack-heads, roaming
their cities. However the sight of seeing someone under the influence of crack-cocaine or heroin
can be unpleasing to see and may even cause some trauma to those witnessing a person under its
influence. Mill does admit that mischief which a person does to himself may seriously affect
in a minor degree, society at large (Mill 153). However, this effect, so long as it does not
escalate to affecting society at a larger degree, that person should still be allowed to act within
their own rights.
While the repercussions of taking hard drugs are well known to the public, ultimately it
should be left to the user to decide whether or not to put these harmful substances into their own
bodies as stated by the Harm Principle created by J.S Mill. The government should not be
influenced by the publics thoughts towards individuals that take these hard drugs and instead
should allow people to express themselves. The government is not established to discourage
people from expressing themselves, but rather is established to ensure the people of freedom
which cannot be done with the laws against hard drugs.

Bibliography
"Alcohol's Effects on the Body." Alcohol's Effects on the Body. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
Arnold, McKayla. "What Do Drugs Do to Your Body." Drug Rehab in Texas. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
May 2015.
"AN EFFECTIVE DRUG EDUCATION AND DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAM." Say No To
Drugs. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2002. Print.