Taboos exist, in part, because they are effective. Avoiding temptations of all kinds can be easier if one thinks about those choices as being virtuous and automatic—I am not the kind of person who does this—rather than reevaluating them case by case or day by day.

Ironically, one of the best demonstrations of the power of stigma to change behavior was produced within the same public-health community that is now trying to destigmatize drug use. Cigarette smoking went from being banal and ubiquitous in the 1950s to uncommon today, one of the greatest achievements of public health. Crucial to this success was deglamorizing smoking through anti-smoking advertising campaigns (including some featuring graphic portrayals of the health effects of cigarettes), relentless recitation of the deaths smoking had caused, and a clear message that not smoking was a smarter, better choice.

Social deterrence alone will not solve the drug crisis; no single strategy will. But the power of culture to shape behavior—including addictive behavior—shows up in basic statistics.

[It’s amazing that it took so long and this much destruction for people to understand the power of social and legal disincentives. When you remove stigmas, you signal acceptance. When you impose stigmas — especially combined with legal and financial penalties — you signal strong disincentives for certain behaviors. The failure of proper incentive setting goes well beyond drug use these days — it has exacerbated societal ills such as crime, homelessness, the destruction of families, and so on. It’s time to recognize the damage that libertinism does and start reviving the social stigmas that guarded against it. At least. — Ed]