ABSTRACT
Ethical language has a good deal of authority and power in contemporary American society. The invocation of language concerning 'rights,' 'freedom,' 'coercion' and 'autonomy' is a powerful chip to play in policy debates. Ethical language is often used to stake out the limits or boundaries of policy argumentation — the point beyond which further discussion is pointless. The situation is made more complex by the fact that ethical language is used by proponents and critics of laetrile to delineate the scope and boundaries of the issues open to debate concerning laetrile. The fact is that there are actually two main types of ethical issues that swirl around the use of laetrile. The chapter suggests that a general discussion about the moral issues involved in regulation and free choice might shed some light upon the laetrile controversy.
