Mike's main point about drug use has always been that the real problems associated with it belong to an older generation than the news media and millions of dollars of commercials would have you believe. As a statistician, he has the numbers to back his claims up. (Although I hear that 87% of statistics are made up. Get it?)
But I digress. As a drug policy reformer (now retired) and an advocate for the rights (and responsibilities that go with them) for young people, it's very refreshing to see his thoughts in the paper of record. Money quote:
As David Musto, a psychiatry professor at Yale and historian of drug abuse, points out, wars on drugs have traditionally depended on “linkage between a drug and a feared or rejected group within society.” Today, however, the fastest-growing population of drug abusers is white, middle-aged Americans. This is a powerful mainstream constituency, and unlike with teenagers or urban minorities, it is hard for the government or the news media to present these drug users as a grave threat to the nation.The problem with not accurately understanding the nature of America's drug problem, is that any solutions that are proposed will not get at the root of the problem and we'll continue to spend millions of dollars on humorous, but ultimately, ineffective commercials. Everyone wishes to reduce the number of overdose deaths, addictions and arrests, but focusing on young people with failed programs like D.A.R.E., fails to address the heart of the drug problem. Grown-ups can't handle their drugs and they use multiple drugs at rates that are unheard of amongst young people. So get it together old folks, now that you've got your prescription drug benefit that me and my generation (not to mention, our kids) will be paying for, there's no excuse not to use responsibly!
To my readers:
This is my third attempt at a blog, the first two being very short-lived, so I hope this topic, which I care deeply about, will compel me to write more. We'll see how it works in a few days.
4 comments:
The only worthwhile drug education I ever got was in driver's ed. The information on drug chemistry and the physical and psychological effect of all recreational drugs, legal or illegal, was presented straightforwardly, without preaching, hysteria or hypocrisy. The underlying idea seemed to be, quite sensibly, that I was an adult capable of making rational decisions and that if I wanted to live and be healthy I shouldn't be stupid. With some slip-ups, I've followed that advice through the following years, as do the vast majority of people. Why America's political and educational systems can't simply follow this practical approach and not rely on "awareness" campaigns that have the effect of actually encouraging drug use (can't find the link, Goldie) I don't understand.
I remember when I was first considering using a new drug, I was eager to find what I thought was some non-biased bit of information. All that you get in school from drug counselors, etc. is hysteria aimed at keeping kids from ever trying a new drug, lest they become addicted. (Now, I think that addiction prevention is laudable but lying to kids, especially about drugs, creates blowback, as the CIA calls it.)
Eventually, I looked the drug in question up in a college psychology book which I felt provided the first glimpse of the fact-based, non-judgemental info that I was looking for and I held off on using said substance for a while.
Most kids aren't stupid, and they don't want to get addictions, STDs, or pregnant. But using scare tactics, while potentially effective in the short-run and perhaps in the longer-term for a small segment of the population, will eventually backfire as some kids will unfortunately discard the truthful aspects of the warnings along with the scare tactics.
I agree with the hysteria. When I saw that the high school valedictorian before my year was a total pothead, and that many such people attended the same illustrious university my sober ass enrolled in, my skepticism about anti-drug information skyrocketed.
I also remember, in junior high, asking the teacher "If drugs are so bad and do such awful things, why do people use them?"
She fumbled for a response and said, "Um, they make you feel good."
I quickly estimated that they must make you feel really, really fucking good to be worth that risk.
Joe, I think the point about drugs making people feel good, in spite of all the misery an addiction can bring, is one of the best points made by Trainspotting.
That, and you'll stick your arm in a nasty toilet to get a suppository, if you're in the middle of opiate withdrawal.
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