Should Chems Be Banned?

This chapter on the ethics of drug use utilizes Fallout 's pervasive “chems” as an analogous space to explore the potential ethical concerns of drug use for human beings. It considers two major debates on the ethics of drug use: the motivations for drug use and the justifications for limiting drug use. The motivations for drug use are divided broadly into performance enhancement versus pleasurable experience. Each of these motivations is considered within the world of Fallout 's chems, and the abilities of the games to adequately represent these differing motivations are shown. The justifications for limiting drug use are, in turn, separated into freedom of choice versus infliction of harm. These justifications for limitation are shown to exist within Fallout through considerations of Mill's harm principle and the concept of paternalism. Within each of these considerations, the analysis of different game factions and potential player choices demonstrates the need for nuanced thinking about chems and the problems with adopting the extremes of either absolute permission or absolute prohibition. The chapter concludes by applying the results of these major debates to the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the real world for fighting (just) wars and sports competition.