4 ms·
Can an app that pays people $5 a day to stop drinking keep them sober?
- formerkrogemp 4y agoHarm reduction rather than punitive punishments are better for health outcomes, reducing drug addiction, and society more generally. Sometimes, I wonder how different the world would be if our first impulse was to help rather than to punish.
- frumper 4y agoI feel like this would not be helping the people with drinking problems. A heavy drinker is likely to spend more than $5/day on drinking so they already value $5 as not worth abstaining from drinking. It could help some subset of problem drinkers though.
- bin_bash 4y agoI'm not sure thinking of this as a set of costs and benefits is a useful framework but even if we did the value would be $5 PLUS the money they're not spending on drinking as well as being healthier, having more energy, better family relationships, etc.
- frumper 4y agoThe entire premise is exchanging a cost for a perceived personal benefit. The addict isn't looking at whether or not this benefits society enough to not drink today, they're looking at whether it benefits them enough to not drink today. I do understand that the benefit is 5 + whatever they spend, but people with addiction issues are willingly choosing a financial cost to continue to do something that very likely has negative personal impacts on their lives for a short term fix. The flip side if the government could somehow impose a tax that ended up costing an addict $5/day more that likely wouldn't stop them from drinking, though they may drink a little less, or switch to a lower quality drink.