Peter Lemiska | Editorial
In one of the most shocking developments ever seen in New Hampshire, quiet little communities are being shattered with scores of untimely, needless deaths. They weren’t caused by mass murderers, gun violence, or some plague – at least not a plague in the medical sense.
Drug abuse has been around for a long time, and has evolved with each generation. In the 1960s, LSD and psychedelics were the drugs of choice. In the 1980s, the use of heroin began to skyrocket, but it was mostly confined to inner city neighborhoods. Back then, it was inconceivable that middle-America would one day be dealing with the scourge of heroin addiction.
But while hard drugs in urban communities increased during that period, drug abuse in general declined around the country. That may have been due to an awareness campaign launched by First Lady Nancy Reagan. One study indicated that marijuana use by high school seniors dropped from 51 percent in 1978 to 36 percent in 1987 and to 12 percent in 1991. Heroin use also fell from one percent to half a percent.
So what caused today’s epidemic? What has changed in recent years?
In part because of increased opium production in Afghanistan and Mexico, heroin has become relatively inexpensive and readily available. In some areas a bag of heroin costs less than a pack of cigarettes, and can be purchased without ID. But availability is only one part of the problem. The second element is society’s increasing tolerance of drugs.
Many older Americans would agree that our social mores have changed in recent years. We are becoming a more permissive, less judgmental society, and it’s reflected in our approach to the drug problem. Today, for example, many states have legalized marijuana use, and there’s an effort to legalize other drugs.
Along with this increased acceptance of drugs comes more compassion for the addict. This new benign approach to the problem is reflected in a recent headline appearing in the Union Leader: “Concord rally pushes for action on addiction, end of stigma.” Today many medical professionals, health organizations, and politicians like Ann Kuster, see addiction as a disease. When Kuster announced at the rally that substance abuse, like diabetes, requires life-long treatment, she was right. But she didn’t mention the obvious fact that one was preventable.
The disease analogy, which is clearly aimed at addicts, may seem compassionate, offering them encouragement and renewed self-esteem. But how does it prevent addiction?
What message does all of this send to young people who may be confused, those who might be looking to drugs as a solution to their problems? To call heroin addiction a disease is to relieve them of their personal responsibility. It offers them an excuse – maybe they’re just afflicted with some predisposition to drug abuse. It blurs the line between right and wrong.
Besides, the disease analogy is weak. Yes, sometimes mental illness leads to drug abuse, but not in all cases. Mental illness, trauma, stress, and this so-called predisposition to addiction cannot explain today’s epidemic. Those issues existed in past generations, yet there was no widespread heroin abuse.
We will likely never eliminate this scourge, but there are things we can do. Yes, we need to treat addiction, but shouldn’t we be focused on prevention? Shouldn’t we be trying to learn what compels young people to take that first fateful step? We can certainly dry up the source of drugs by imposing the stiffest penalties the law allows on the peddlers, those who profit from the misery of others.
More importantly, we need to re-shape the attitudes of our children at home and in school. If they’re not too young to learn about safe sex, they’re not too young to learn about the horrors of drug addiction. If they can learn to look at drugs with revulsion, and not curiosity, it will be a good first step.
Our message to them must be clear and unequivocal. Chemical dependency is the predictable result of ingesting, inhaling, or injecting an addictive substance. Heroin is illegal and highly addictive. If you use it, you may evade arrest, but you will become an addict. Even if you seek help, the road to recovery will be hard. The relapse rate is somewhere between 40 and 60 percent. Yes, you will be stigmatized. You will likely not find meaningful work. You will certainly never realize your full potential. Your life and the lives of your family will be shattered. And it will be a result of your decision.
Peter Lemiska
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