"Rethinking our attitude to drugs" - The Age

[ayjay]

From here:

ILLICIT drugs are widely viewed with fear and loathing. Parents, in particular, are understandably terrified their children will become addicted to headline-grabbing horrors including heroin and methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Alcohol and other drugs are known to be extremely hazardous to the developing brains of young people.

The apprehension is endlessly fuelled by stereotypical images of dishevelled, desperate drug users roaming the streets.

While the fear of addiction is rational, the widespread demonisation of drug use is often hypocritical and borders on collective hysteria. The reality is that most people who use drugs - legal and illegal - do so recreationally and relatively safely.

Just the first para quoted above - for the rest follow the link. The editorial in today's Age also promotes drug law reform. Nice to see the media onside!! Interestingly, the worker interviewed in the article talks about stigma as a most significant issue in the embedded video - but this isn't picked up in the text or the editorial. Interesting... I guess whatever happens, people reserve the right to hate junkies

 

[poledriver]

great article and some nice comments under it.

 

[poledriver]

great article and some nice comments under it.

Wow I just checked back a few hours later and there is some real debates going on in the comments, Go and have a say if you havent already, before they close the comments section.

 

[TangerinO]

Finally! God damn, I really can't wait for a future where I can talk about the positive AND negative effects of my drug use intelligently with people without them thinking you must be jabbing an aids infected needle into your eye.

Drug user stigmatization is a huge problem. I've lost too many friends, just simply because they were too ill-informed and far too close minded.

 

[Halif]

^agree.

and

I really can't wait for a future where I can talk about the positive AND negative effects of my drug use intelligently with people without them thinking you must be jabbing an aids infected needle into your eye.

LOL (and agree)