摘要：H. O. Melberg: Conceptual problems with studies of the social cost of alcohol and drug use Existing studies of the social cost of substance abuse give very different answers. Part of the reason for the differences is that the contributions differ in their definition of costs and the types of costs that are included or excluded from the study. Closer attention to the concept of cost employed in these studies also reveals some weaknesses with many of the existing studies. The policy relevant concept of cost necessarily implies a comparison between all realistically expected consequences (both positive and negative) of two policy alternatives and many cost studies do not use the concept of cost in this way. Finally, it is argued that cost estimates in this area cannot be neutral or scientific because the results depend on our views on when a choice can be characterized as voluntary and rational, how we deal with the problem of inconsistent preferences, and which preferences we consider to be legitimate. Since there is no agreed consensus on these issues, the cost estimate necessarily becomes subjective.
关键词：Social costs ; alcohol ; illegal drugs ; definition of cost ; cost of illness ; conceptual problems ; revealed preferences ; weakness of will
