1. There is a clear pharmacological definition for drugs.
There isn’t – what we classify as illegal ‘drugs’ is a 1950s & 60s social and cultural construct with no coherent pharmacological rationale.
2. People who use drugs are drug misusers.
Untrue – the vast majority are recreational users who generally use drugs sensibly.
3. Users are dirty, immoral and dangerous losers.
An unjustified and hostile stereotype – illicit drug users are a diverse group of people from every walk of life. The drug business is dirty, immoral and dangerous – because it’s illegal, lucrative and subject to fierce law enforcement.
4. People take drugs because they have problems.
Untrue – most people take drugs because they enjoy the effect, just like alcohol and caffeine.
5. Regular drug use inevitably leads to addiction.
Untrue – only a small proportion of people who use illicit drugs develop addiction – just like alcohol and caffeine.
6. Taking drugs damages people.
All substances (legal and illegal) can damage people, but it’s largely prohibition that makes illicit drugs dangerous and damaging. In addition, acquiring a criminal record for drugs is more harmful than the drug. The most damaging drug of all is a legal one – alcohol.
7. Drug use fuels crime.
The presence of a drug and the commission of a crime does not equate to a causal connection. The relationship is ‘associated’ rather than ‘causal’. However, there is evidence that prohibition and tough law enforcement of drugs causes crime.
8. Legal drugs are safer and less harmful.
Alcohol and tobacco are more damaging than most illegal drugs – but due to prohibition it’s more difficult to obtain any illegal drugs in a clean and unadulterated form.
9. Law enforcement measures effect levels of drug use.
Neither tough nor liberal law enforcement have much impact upon levels of drug use.
10. Addiction is an equal opportunity employer.
Drug use is an equal opportunity employer but addiction isn’t. While anyone can be affected, problematic drug use tends to disproprtionately affect those with disadvantaged and damaged lives who had difficulties before PDU and lack resources, opportunities and support to change.
11. Addiction is a brain disease.
Untrue, yes the brain will be affected but loss of control of drugs (similar to internet addiction, gambling, over eating) has much more to do with social, psychological and behavioural fact than neurological defects. If it was a brain disease MRIs would be used as clear evidence of addiction.
12. The government can protect society by banning new drugs.
Banning drugs mascquerades as positive action to deal with the ‘problem’ -but actually banning drugs doesn’t protect society it actually makes production, distribution and consumption more dangerous.
13. Once listed in the Misuse of Drugs Act, drugs become ‘controlled’.
Technically correct – but ironically once a drug is listed it actually goes underground and becomes an uncontrolled drug.
14. Cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to addiction to ‘hard’ drugs.
Untrue, the majority of young adults have used cannabis have not progress further to use so called hard drugs, and have not become addicted
15. People who use caffeine, tobacco and/or alcohol are not drug users.
Untrue – they certainly are. These three substances are drugs, and ironically unlike some illegal drugs – in high dosages – caffeine, tobacco and alcohol kill.
16. If we lock up dealers we can reduce the drug related violence.
Actually disrupting the supply distribution and removing dealers actually has the opposite impact and creates more violence by presenting new opportunities and creating ‘business’ conflict.
17. Drug use is a health issue.
Taking a substance isn’t a health issue anymore than a coffee or glass of wine is a ‘health issue’. Even problematic drug use isn’t best described as a health issue – PDU may be a social, psychological, health and/or legal issue.
18. There are ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ drugs.
There is no clear definition to support this misleading distinction. While some drugs can generally pose greater problems than other drugs to some people – these generalisations are misleading because the impact of a drug varies from person to person depending upon the set (the person) and the setting (the environment) – it’s not just the substance.
19. Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous, and the proof they are dangerous is that they are illegal!
This circular DoubleSpeak is used to defend prohibition, but the substances we have called ‘drugs’ are not particularly more dangerous than other substances such as alcohol, sugar, tobacco, fat, caffeine, peanuts. However, prohibition increases the risk, danger and uncertainty considerable.
20. Drug testing will tell you if a person is on drugs.
The result is unreliable due human error, machine error, deliberate and accidental false postives and false negatives. Some who tests positive for cannabis may have been cannabis free for 4weeks.
21. Like everything else on the market drugs must be proven safe before they can ever be legalised.
Not true. The safety for other products does not have to be established before approval (for example mobile phones or GM foods). Substances that are damaging or even lethal such as tobacco, alcohol, peanuts are legal and promoted, whereas a drug such as cannabis that has never killed anyone is considered dangerous and remains illegal.
22. People who use drugs are not criminals they need help.
Taking a drug should not be a law enforcement concern, but neither should we problematise or pathologise drug use as a health issue. There is no reason why we should assume a person using drugs needs a help.
23. Recovery is about becoming drug free.
Recovery is about regaining control of your life, but becoming drug free isn’t always necessary to achieve that. Some people sort their life out and continue to use in a non problematic way, and some take clean prescribed substitutes.
24. Harm reduction is about reducing the spread of diseases.
Harm reduction is not just about health – it’s also about reducing social, cultural and psychological harms. HR is an evidenced based approach that should underpin all drug policy. It’s pragmnatic, humane and non judgemental it engages people where they are at with a view to reducing risk and harm.
25. Harm reduction doesn’t support abstinence.
Harm reduction isn’t about getting people off drugs – it’s about reducing risks. Abstinence for some might be a good way to reduce risks – so harm reduction incoroporates abstinence – but only if the person is ready, able, interested and wanting to become abstinent.
26. Illegal drugs have little or no use in medicine.
Although enshrined in the much outdated 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotics this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Opiates are essential in severe pain management and other drugs, such as cannabis and MDMA, have medicinal benefits in the treatment of a growing number of conditions (eg MS, PTSD, Epilepsy). Illegality has made medical trials and acceptance difficult.
27. People who use drugs need treatment not prison.
People who use drugs don’t need treatment or prison anymore than someone who has a double expresso each morning, or the person who enjoys a glass of whisky before bedtime needs treatment or prison.
28. To prevent stigma we need to understand addiction is a disease.
To prevent stigma we need to end the war on drugs and challenge the hypocritical and flawed social construction of drugs. Addiction is not as disease either.
29. Drug laws effect everyone the same.
This is not true. The chances of being stopped, searched, arrested and prosecuted for drug possession depends a greatly on the colour of your skin, your location and your social background.
30. If we try hard enough we can eradicate drugs.
A fallacy. Forty years of extremely tough prohibition involving massess of time and money for police, armed forces and customs has had no impact upon supply, price or use. It’s even impossible to keep drugs out of top security prisons!
31. Heroin is a dangerous drug that damages your body.
Any street drug could be very damaging because illegality means the user hasn’t got a clue what’s in it. But clean pharmaceutical heroin (unlike alcohol) doesn’t cause any permanent damage to the body.
32. Crack cocaine in pregnancy leads to permanently damaged ‘crack’ babies.
There is no consistent evidence to support this – severe and enduring poverty appears to be the consistent factor that thwarts child progress and development.
33. Drug testing will help identify people who have a drug problem.
Besides it’s unreliability- at best it’ll only indicate drug use it wont show pattern, time, place, nature or context of drug use. Drug use, like alcohol use, should not be the focus – instead our energy and resources should be directed to problematic drug use.
By Julian Buchanan
If you are genuinely unsure about any of the claims made here email me and I’ll do my best to evidence and explain.
(C) 2013 Julian Buchanan
Creative Commons Attribution