It’s been nagging me. It seems like no matter how much kids are told that drugs are bad or seen the devastation drugs cause, that if someone is indeed a true addict, they will not learn that this isn’t the way to live without themselves experiencing first hand the hell that addiction brings.
Is there a way to properly transmit this first hand learned knowledge to young ppl that have not started drugs yet? We are failing our youth in this regard and I believe we could do better. I just don’t know how.
Well the thing is that you cannot know who's gonna be an addict before that person gets into drugs. The only way to stop anyone getting addicted is to never have a single person take any drugs, which isn't possible. Also scare tactics don't work - anyone who's ever had a drink or a joint and enjoyed it knows that 'drugs are bad' as a blanket statement doesn't correspond to reality.
I think the best thing we could do is have drug education be actual drug EDUCATION, because right now all we have is anti-drug scare tactics. That's to say to give the correct and realistic info about the possible risks but also the potential positives of drug use; if nothing good ever came of substances there would be no addicts. Nobody gets addicted to things they don't LIKE.
Plus to someone with a contrarian streak like me demonization is counterproductive. It's like reverse propaganda. Being told how bad and dangerous H is and that it's only fucked-up people who take it only made it more attractive. For every person who is deterred by those dramatic anti-drugs campaigns there'll be another for whom it'll only make the drugs appear more desirable. Forbidden fruit effect and all that.
So, HONEST FACTS about drugs, the good and the bad, instead of fear-driven ideology. Teach about drugs like we teach about alcohol - you're not expected to never try a drink, instead you're told not to over-consume, not to drive under the influence etc. MODERATION and SAFETY are key.
Do we stop people from having sex because SOME might get horrible diseases from it or be sexually abused? No. Do we stop people engaging in extreme sports because SOME will be crippled for life or even die? No.
We acknowledge people WILL DO those things so we encourage them to do it as safely and sensibly as possible.
Then also make it a priority to warn kids to NOT lean on anything as a chemical comfort blanket for when they have issues. That's how most addictions start.
Then to stop repeating those drug myths like 'one hit and you're hooked for life' or 'everyone who uses this or that will turn into an addict'.
I honestly think I might never have ended up addicted if I hadn't completely internalized that script. To my mind, I basically willingly signed a contract to 'be a junkie' the first time I took a shot. So I became one. It's called 'response expectancy' , ie you subconsciously programme yourself to act the way you've been convinced you are going to act in a given situation.
Just stop the whole mystification. Drugs and ESPECIALLY opiates are often glamorized as much as they're simultaneously demonized.
I could write a book on how my own drug of choice gets talked about in these overblown terms, like it's paradise, and it's also hell. All those are mental projections that just serve to romanticize it. This does no good at all. We need to be more factual.
And lastly, it's important for parents and teachers to NOT flip out and overreact when they find out a teenager has maybe been doing a bit of weed or popped a pill or two at a festival. It escalates the whole situation and creates a massive problem where there didn't need to be one. When you make a huge issue out of ordinary rebellious / exploring teenage behaviour, that turns a single instance of fairly harmless drug use into a cascade of unwarranted shit. I mean there's parents who'll ship their son off to a rehab for having shared a spliff with a mate. Schools who suspend you. You then get your education interrupted, your social reputation tarnished, future job opportunities ruined because now you're technically a criminal for using an illegal substance. You're branded with a label that has a whole laundry list of misconceptions and prejudices attached to it. A lot of young people that are treated like they are now a 'problem' and need 'early intervention' only react by doubling down on their drug use, 'cause hey!, my parents think I'm basically already fucked and my school has just excluded me so...
Intervention more often than not serves to cement that kid's 'deviant' identity and entrenches the problems it's supposed to 'cure'.
It also puts the focus on the drug and makes it a bigger deal in the kid's head. If he's overdoing something because he's got problems, the prime focus should be on helping that kid with his problems, instead of condemning him for using.
Anyway that's my 2 cents. Sorry it's bit rambly, I'm 5 beers in.
