Drugs are bad, mmk? Young people in this country had that notion pounded into their heads over their many years of education. Naturally, the strategy hasn’t been terribly effective. This failure can largely be attributed to the disingenuous manner in which drug education is pursued. Equating marijuana with heroin and heroin to huffing gasoline, most young people have a hard time taking these messages seriously and set off to experiment and learn the pleasures and pains of drugs and alcohol for themselves. The unfortunate result of these sorts of illicit dalliances, and one that is generally underemphasized and improperly represented in drug education, is addiction.
There are few pitfalls in life that are more omnipresent, shadowy and destructive, especially for young people in possession of disposable income and a na?ve curiosity. Drug addiction afflicts millions of Americans; in Wisconsin alone more than 500,000 people suffer from some form of substance dependency. The problem isn’t going away, as experts are estimating the number of addicts in the U.S. will double in the next 11 years to 5 million by 2020.
Narcotics are becoming increasingly prevalent in America’s Dairyland, fueling addiction and crime across the state. For instance, two weeks ago a heroin addict was shot and killed by Madison police for robbing a Cousin’s Subs. Tellurian UCAN, a local rehabilitation clinic, has reported a 500 percent increase in the number of patients treated for heroin addiction in the past three years. That drug has broken out of the standard demographic box in which it has historically been confined. No longer a plague upon minority communities in the state, smack has permeated into white suburbia.
Too frequently the problem is swept under the rug, and addicts are discouraged from seeking help and reaching out to a society less willing to offer a helping hand than ridicule and a trip to the penitentiary. All too often addicts are vilified as social deviants, too pathetic and weak to make healthy decisions and pull themselves up from the drug addled hell into which they have fallen.
Not unlike the homeless or the poor, drug addicts are viewed as victims of their own personal failings. Although indiscretion might have triggered the illness, health care professionals agree addiction is more than that, it’s a genuine disease. With that notion in mind we must build up the courage to embrace addicts and offer our confidence and compassion to help them help themselves.
Many of them live very painful lives, depressed and pitiful, their only means of relief to shoot up, smoke up or blow a line of the master of their universe. Sober members of society need to recognize this. Too often the people that can help shun them or try to ignore their problem hoping it will go away on its own. The fact is these people need assistance; they need the emotional and intellectual support of their peers to get a grip on their problem and begin to resolve it.
In the meantime, the War of Drugs is a disaster, and another strategy is desperately needed. It might be time to consider a more radical solution to the problem, namely legalization. A lot of people think this a grossly irresponsible idea, but hear me out. First of all, one of the greatest dangers of drugs like heroin and cocaine is the impurity of the substances. Having gone through many hands, the powder tends to be “cut” with all sorts of other cheaper drugs like Benadryl or Tylenol in the best scenario and God knows what in the worst. Second of all, as in the case of Cousin’s Subs bandit, lack of access to coke and dope by broke junkies leads to crime, often involving violence.
Trials in the U.K. are already underway in which clinics administer heroin to addicts in a supervised, clean environment on a daily basis. Crime rates have nosedived as a result. Combining safely administered drugs with counseling and the full gamut of rehab resources may also prove an effective way to get people to quit for good.
A similar program in the U.S., coupled with decriminalization of marijuana and cocaine, could be equally effective. The benefits would truly be unprecedented. The violent Mexican cartels would collapse overnight. Hundreds of millions of dollars would be reclaimed from the prison-industrial complex and the black market. Nonetheless, the dire consequences of drug use would still exist and would provide ample fodder for educational countermeasures. Such a monumental educational effort is safely within the realm of possibility given the proper allocation of resources and public support.
Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Maybe now is the time for a sane drug policy, something different and proven to reduce crime. The extra compassion wouldn’t hurt either.
Sam Stevenson ([email protected]) is a graduate student in public health.
