Substance abuse - Essay Example

Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative can be used to resolve the dilemma developed by substance abuse. Deontology describes an act done as morally right if the person performing the act had genuine intentions. The theory has a downside that may justify wrong doing done by someone who is ignorant of the possible outcome and for this reason we integrate the theory of the categorical imperative. Categorical imperative states that when choosing, which act to pursue one, should consider if the principle behind the act can be applied at universal levels (Paton, 1947).

The people involved in substance abuse, like marijuana for recreational purposes have the ability to alter their moods, relax and attain certain levels of euphoria. These people are doing substance abuse with genuine intention hence they pass the first theory of deontology. The principle behind the act is illegal as they obtained the drugs illegally. Using comparative imperative one would analyze the possible results if the principle got used in a universal basis. What would happen if people in the world practiced illegal attaining of items?

Since obtaining and abusing substance is wrong, one would conclude that this acts in not moral. This dilemma can also be solved using the utilitarian rule. According to this rule, an act is said to be moral if it maximizes utility and minimizes pain of others and oneself. In the person acts to abuse the substance they will be breaking the law acting against the society set rules. This means that this action results to suffering for some people. This act would be described as egoism where one is only considering self-interests and ignoring others (Hills, 2012).

Someone practicing utilitarian rule would prefer not to abuse substance and look for other alternative that will produce results with a net gain (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2011). Marijuana