Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/51350
Title: Human enhancement drugs: Emerging issues and responses
Contributor(s): Hope, Vivian D (author); Underwood, Mair (author); Mulrooney, Kyle  (author)orcid ; Mazanov, Jason (author); van de Ven, Katinka  (author)orcid ; McVeigh, Jim (author)
Publication Date: 2021-09
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103459
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/51350
Abstract: 

It can be argued that there are no 'enhancement' drugs per se, for enhancement is not an objective property of any drug but rather a meaning assigned to the drug on the basis of the expected effects of that drug. Thus all drugs could be enhancement drugs if deemed to be, for the definition of enhancement depends on the meaning we, as a society, give to the drugs' effects. If a drugs' effects are deemed to be detrimental that drug may be considered a 'poison' or 'toxin'. If the effects of a drug are deemed valuable or beneficial, and the drug is used to restore or sustain 'health' or 'normality', the drug may be deemed 'therapeutic' or a 'medicine'. If the effects of the drugs are experienced as beneficial but those benefits are not seen as necessary to restore or sustain health, these drugs may be deemed 'recreational' (if the drug is used primarily for 'pleasure') or 'enhancing'. Whether or not drug use is considered enhancement depends in large part on our definition of 'normality', and on what we, as a society, value. The term 'enhancement' refers to changes that are considered to be in a positive direction, that is, they are 'improvements' or changes that are viewed as increasing value, and that alter an individual to a state which society has deemed above 'normal'. Enhancement is commonly defined by bioethicists as "interventions that are used to improve human form or functioning beyond what is necessary to restore or sustain health" (Juengst & Moseley, 2019). However, whilst there are established definitions of ‘health’, such as the WHO "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", these are typically broad and so open to interpretation (e.g. is it merely repair and maintenance or does it include enhancing well-being?) which makes enhancement challenging to define.

Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: International Journal of Drug Policy, v.95, p. 1-4
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Place of Publication: Netherlands
ISSN: 1873-4758
0955-3959
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 440706 Health policy
441011 Sociology of health
440299 Criminology not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200499 Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified
200413 Substance abuse
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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