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There are many products that are specifically targeted to human psychology and made as addictive as possible, like drugs that permanently rewire your brain, a short video platform with neural networks designed to maximise retention, or a highly optimised gambling game with well-timed payoffs to keep the player coming back for more. I'm already sceptical of a lack of regulation in these areas, where a single moment of curiosity can lead to someone bankrupting or killing themselves chasing the next high.

But even ignoring that, what's the non-government solution to addictive substances pedalled through false advertising?

What would you do about a brand of cookies that mixes in addictive drugs to their secret recipe? Now the people getting hooked don't even have to consent once, they can be tricked into an addiction that warps their neurochemistry permanently. Couldn't an already established company that with a large budget then further reinforce the safety of the cookies through marketing, or paying off experts in the field, or a grassroots disinformation campaign?

What about a media juggernaut with highly addictive/radicalising content that engages in a widespread disinformation campaign to try and suppress the truth of the situation? Any reporting of the issue or complaints levied are drowned out by constant waves of "fact-checking" on the news and if not disproving the claims, they at least sow enough confusion to prevent much from being done about it

What if a pharmaceutical company that sold cough medicine marked down 0.01% of some wealthy customers on a special list, replacing theirs and only their medicine with opium, with the people around them none the wiser about the root cause of their recent financial woes, because it certainly couldn't be the helpful cough medicine they themselves take all the time

I'm concerned that these problems can't be fixed by decentralised groups driven by profit, as where's the profit motive for overcoming such powerful competitors with huge revenue streams to discredit any attempt to uncover the truth – possibly to the point that an investigator's brand is ruined and their livelihoods destroyed. Additionally, without seeing the big picture effect, these problems might not even be noticeable by most people – those not directly impacted by it.

On the other hand, a democratically elected government can and does regulate these industries. Being able to look at the bigger picture and see the impact an industry can have on a large-scale, they can see the actual impacts of the situation. There's also a non-profit incentive – lower living standards don't make for good election results. That's why governments regulate casinos and ban hard drugs. What's the non-government solution?



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4 thoughts on “What’s the libertarian answer to the combination of false advertising and addictive substances?”
  1. If they use them and it leads to negative consequences, that’s their fault, not ours.

    Also, you seemed to be concerned about corporations despite the fact that in a free market, corporations would die incredibly fast.

  2. If it’s truly false advertising (deception), a consumer should be able to file for damages. Big Pharma (like Big Tobacco before it) spends millions of dollars lobbying the government for preferential treatment. Remove the ability to lobby and get special protections and the problem is half-solved already.

  3. false advertizing (IE fraud) will never be okay in a freed market. 

    as far as addictive substances goes that is up to the discretion of the user as long as you are not exposing it to children or those who do not consent to being exposed thwn uts fine, basically treat all ddugs how we treat tobacco. 

  4. In the heirarchy of “false advertisement for addictive substances” belief that government is a solution to your problems is number one.

    So we’ll work to fix the worst example and go from there.

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