Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because

Question

Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.

E. Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.

origen87 · Answer

Weaken
Conclusion: In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X, to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X , it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.
Prethinking: So banning tourists and not issuing visas should solve the problem.
But what if say the citizens of Andovia(who are not banned from travelling) go to those coutries and smuggle drugs home?
Or maybe the drug is made from some plant easily available in Andovia?

Option E

Nightmare007 · Answer

resembles -Meaning Look alike. Not in properties or anything.

. I hope you understood. and we need to weaken the conclusion by saying that the policy won't help out. E clearly states that . Even if outsides are blocked as per the policy people people still have access to that drug by making at their home using consumer products.

TheRzS · Answer

D   is out of scope.  currently on the market  - where? in other countries where X is legal or in Andovia? Also, do those  designer drugs  resemble X's properties or looks?

E   basically says  Even if CAUSE occurs     EFFECT does NOT occur    - as they might be able to produce themselves.

Straight forward

Regards

PSKhore · Answer

The correct answer is E.

Explanation

The argument claims that Andovia should close its borders and restrict entry to tourists from countries where drug X is legal to prevent the drug from becoming widespread and causing social problems. This relies on the assumption that controlling the entry of people from these countries will effectively control the entry of the drug itself. 
Option E directly attacks this assumption by stating that Drug X is extremely easy to conceal and extract from common household items. This implies that even with strict border closures and visa restrictions, individuals could easily smuggle the drug into Andovia without being detected. If drug X can be easily smuggled through other means, then restricting tourists from countries where it is legal wouldn't be an effective way to prevent its proliferation in Andovia. 
 
 Why other options are incorrect

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points. This weakens the argument slightly by suggesting that detection at the border might be challenging. However, it does not completely negate the effectiveness of border closures as a preventative measure, especially if authorities employ other methods of detection beyond canines.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage. This strengthens the argument, as it suggests a greater need for preventative measures to protect the population from long-term harm.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force. This strengthens the argument, as it implies that Andovia has robust measures in place to enforce border control, making the proposed solution more feasible.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market. This might make it harder to identify Drug X, but doesn't necessarily mean border controls are entirely useless. It might necessitate improved drug testing techniques, but not necessarily a rejection of border controls as a whole.

Source: AI Overview

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB ,  IanStewart , my understanding of the argument is that it is a necessary condition, and not a sufficient one. So even if drug is made available internally, IMO point of enforcing border control might still be valid, and required.

guddo · Answer

Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X, to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal. 
 
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

The argument says Andovia can prevent the social problems linked to drug X by closing its borders and refusing visas to tourists from countries where drug X is legal.  The key assumption  is that keeping out those tourists would meaningfully prevent broad use of drug X in Andovia. The best weakener shows that people in Andovia could still get drug X  without those tourists .

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.

This weakens somewhat, but not the most. It suggests detection at borders may be difficult, but the proposal is mainly to stop tourists from legal-X countries from entering.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.

Wrong. This may strengthen the concern about drug X, because harm may not appear immediately.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.

Wrong. This supports the idea that Andovia may be able to control its borders effectively.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.

This may create some enforcement difficulty, but it does not directly show that closing the borders to tourists from legal-X countries would fail.

E. Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.

Correct. This seriously weakens the argument. If drug X can be obtained from ordinary consumer products and easily concealed, then refusing visas to tourists from countries where X is legal would not reliably prevent broad use of X in Andovia.

Answer: (E)

Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because

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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because

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