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Business ethical issues and dilemmas
Ethical issues for a business
Ethical issues for a business
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Commercial Vices
The commercial vices are gambling, prostitution, and drugs. The appeals of the commercial vices are so strong and widespread that attempts to prohibit them in western countries have always failed.
The evils of these vices are threefold: Those who practice them suffer, the criminals who sell them prosper, and the enforcement organizations are expensive, unsuccessful, and often corrupt.
Two commercial vices have been accepted as unstoppable, but there evils have been minimized by legalization and regulation. These are the particular drug, alcohol, and gambling. Ethyl alcohol, the drug in beer, whiskey, and wine does more harm is causing accidents, overdose deaths, job failures, broken homes, and violence than all other drugs combined. The United States attempted to prohibit alcohol and failed. The
Mafia made its money by bootlegging alcohol. The gangsters of the twenties and thiries were in the alcohol business just as the drug peddlers of today are in the drug business. Both settled trade disputes with gun fire. When alcohol prohibition was repealed and sale by licensed dealers was instituted, the Mafia went out of the liquor business and the revenue agents assigned to stop the illegal business went out of business too. The quality of regulated liquor became assured and taxed, not high enough to motivate bootlegging, became a source of public revenue. Consumption of legal alcohol became only slightly greater than the consumption of illegal alcohol had been.
If we follow the alcohol example with all other drugs, the benefits will obtain. Much more than that, the temptation of the forbidden fruits will disappear. The jailing of petty drug pushers will stop, together with their training as future serious criminals in the crime schools which are jails. If we transfer the huge sums wasted on efforts and on punishment to serious education and rehabilitation programs, the drug problem will retreat to the trivial level it was fifty years ago.
At one time all but private gambling at home was illegal. So the Mafia ran the numbers rackets and secret games and the bookmaking where law abiding citizens did their unstoppable gambling. Now governments run lotteries and license and supervise casinos so the gangsters are largely out, cheating in minimal, and governments earn revenue instead of paying police.
Prostitution is an even more emotional problem. Addiction to sex is genetic, permanent, and deprivation has many more penalties. Prostitution is the worlds oldest profession. Here, again, legalization and regulation in
Nevada was already eliminated the pimps and gangsters and reduce the police
The decline of alcohol consumption was partly an illusion due to the fact that it sharply increased by the penultimate years of Prohibition, suggested that the demand of alcohol was so strong, which led to the rise of organised crime, such as bootlegging, speakeasies and criminal gangs. Ultimately, Prohibition was not a healthy move because many people decided to turn to more dangerous substitutes such as heroin, hashish and cannabis. This had serious health consequences, such as addiction and shortened life expectancy. Due to the immense geographical size of America, prohibition was difficult to enforce, which also led to corruption. The limited number of underpaid police officers were usually bribed by illegal establishments to remain silent. Willoughby’s point is agreeable that the failure of prohibition was largely due to the fact that it was over-ambitious, resulting in many problems in America, that led to its repeal in
As you might already be aware there is a ballot initiative on this upcoming November’s election about drugs, and drug treatment. This measure is called Proposition 36. If this measure were to pass, state law would be changed, so that certain non-violent adult offenders who use or possess illegal drugs would receive drug treatment and supervision in the community, not prison. Right now California is ranked number one in the nation for its rate of imprisonment for drug offenders. If Proposition 36 passes, California could become number one for its treatment for drug offenders. The measure also provides state funds to counties to operate the drug treatment programs. Additionally, studies have shown that drug treatment is a far more effective than prison in reducing future criminal activity. Robert Roseman, a 51-year-old heroin addict from Sacramento says, “I was always able to get drugs in prison…all you’re going to learn in prison is to do crime better.”
...ederal officers to enforce the prohibition law. Many of those officers found themselves in the midst of the exchange of dirty money between the bootleggers and themselves. Tax dollars were also spent on prosecuting bootleggers who got captured. Millions of dollars annually were spent convicting and keeping the prisoners in jails. Other economic problems were that citizens found themselves “drinking away” their pay cheques. These economic problems resulted in the government not taking in as much money as they could have, and spending money in areas that could have been avoided, if prohibition hadn’t existed in the first place.
Kelly’s article has raised valid points regarding safety to the prostitute within a brothel, but there is so much evidence that proves the ill effects of this experiment in other countries that the evidence cannot be ignored. Although, parts of the sex trade industry may initially see positive results for some of the workers, the majority would end up worse off than before. Due to the illegal nature of this industry and the control exuded by the pimp, the physical and psychological risk to the prostitute, the highly addictive nature of sex, and the organized crime behind the scenes orchestrating and controlling ever aspect of the industry, it is clear that decriminalizing prostitution would result in significant negative affects on society, prostitutes and those with sexual addictions.
Prohibition was passed to eradicate the demand for liquor but had the inadvertent effect of raising the crime rates in America. Robert Scott stated, “Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America” (Scott 2). As the demand for alcohol increased, people began to find new methods to mask the production and consumption of liquor. It became easier to break the rules. Organized crime blossomed and many law-abiding citizens turned into criminals.
The term addiction can be interpreted in many ways, concering both illegal and legal substances. Not only can one become addicted to a substance, but also activities like gambling, shoplifting, and sex. Prior to considering addiction, one must first understand what constitutes a substance. Levinthal (2002) describes a drug as a chemical substance that changes the functioning of the body when ingested (4). Although illegal drugs may come to mind when hearing this definition, alcohol and tobacco fit under this criteria as well. For the purpose of this essay, controlled and regulated (licit/legal) substances will be focused upon. Alcohol is a regulated substance that can be thought of as a social drug (Levinthal, 2002, p.192) and arguably tobacco
However, before the specific outcomes of Congressional influence and policy impact can be evaluated it becomes important to first review the general history and current situation of drugs today. Our present drug laws were first enacted at the beginning of the century. At the time, recreational use of narcotics was not a major social issue. The first regulatory legislation was for the purpose of standardizing the manufacturing and purity of pharmaceutical products. Shortly after, the first criminal laws were enacted which addressed opium products and cocaine. Although some states had prohibited the recreational use of marijuana, there was no federal criminal legislation until 1937. By contrast, the use of alcohol and its legality was a major social issue in United States in the early 20th century. This temperance movement culminated in the prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. Recreational drug use, particularly heroin, became more prevalent among the urban poor during the early ?60s. Because of the high cost of heroin and its uncertain purity, its use was associated with crime and frequent overdoses.
We cannot afford to keep using the same approach in hopes of diminishing our drug problem in the United States. In a study posted on RAND.org, the author Jonathan P. Caulkins compares many methods we can use to help with drug crime. The first graph compares federal mandatory minimum sentences, conventional enforcement at all levels of government, and treatment of heavy users. Conventional enforcement prevented around thirty kilo grams of cocaine from being used, while federal mandatory minimums prevented around forty kilograms from being used. Treatment of heavy users blew both of the other methods out of the water.
Prohibition was a period in which the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. It started January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 193. Although it was formed to stop drinking completely, it did not even come close. It created a large number of bootleggers who were able to supply the public with illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol and using other methods. They started the practices of organized crime that are still used today. Thus, Prohibition led to the rapid growth of organized crime.
The illegal liquor business, caused by Prohibition, was the start of organized crime in the USA. Many politicians and other officials in all positions became corrupt and criminal. This state remained even after the repeal of the liquor law for a long time.
Thornton examines the understood belief that alcohol prohibition failed. The examples he uses apply to drug prohibition and any other government attempt to control and restrict consumer habits. Thornton first discusses the history of prohibition laws, mainly focusing on American implementation of prohibitionist policies. He follows up with the theoretical bases upon which prohibition advocates rely, and thoroughly exposes them as false. After investigating the history and theory of prohibition, Thornton exposes the effects of such policies on the potency of illicit drugs. He explains how prohibition unavoidably creates incentives for producers to increase the potency of drugs and alcohol products distributed through black
One lesson is clear, prohibition induces temptation! In the internet digital TV age, most walls and boundaries have fallen. It is the duty of society to regulate itself, and to immunize itself against perceivable vice. The Netherland experiece with legalized drugs is a good example. Instead of spending money chasing drug consumers and traffickers, they thought better and regulated the "industry," and they choose to spend the money on education on the risk of drugs.
...lid “Prohibition: What If?”) The lasting repercussions of organized crime still endure in America today. Although, alcohol is very much legal once again, organized crime now lies in the hands of drug lords who smuggle various types of illicit drugs into the United States every day.
It is common knowledge in the United States that Prohibition is a failure. In the 1920’s alcohol was made illegal by the US government during Prohibition. Rather than preventing alcohol consumption, this only created organized crime groups and a black market for the substance. The policy did not only fail to alleviate the US from drug use, but also lead to the formation of organized criminal associations and dangerous substitutes for these drugs. The same issues apply when drugs are made illegal (Thornton 1). Today there is an immense black market
Many feel today we are loosing the war on drugs. People consider legalization unnecessary. They feel that it will increase the amount of drug use throughout the world. They state that in many cases, drug users who have quit quit because of trouble with the law. Legalization would eliminate the legal forces that discourage the users from using or selling drugs. They also say that by making drugs legal, the people who have never tried drugs for fear of getting caught by the law will have no reason to be afraid anymore and will become users (Potter 1998).