Drugs and Drug Policy – Substance Abuse, Vancouver
Jan 25th, 2012 by Janet
Substance abuse is a type of behavior, and in places such as downtown Vancouver, in British Columbia – more people than the national average engage in substance abuse.
Mark Klieman has co-authored a book, published in mid 2011, that takes a refreshingly clear look at the issue of substance abuse, policy, and law enforcement – entitled Drugs and Drug Policy – What Everyone Needs to Know.
In a description of the book, by Oxford University Press – it is outlined that whereas there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs – explicit public drug policies, in the form of regulations, taxes and prohibitions, are a relatively recent development.
As the book points out – one of the major side effects of the criminalisation of substance abuse is that it tends to drive the control of drugs into the hands of organised crime, the considerable profits of the drug trade being used to perpetuate drug abuse and for other anti-social purposes. It is said that under current drug policies – neither a drug free world, nor a world of free drugs seems to be on offer.
Mark Klieman himself, a drug expert of some repute, has made it clear in past editorial that a “war on drugs” policy tends to polarize attitudes about substance abuse so that a neutral position is hard to find. People tend to take a black and white approach to the issue of what to do about drugs – views tending to polarized as between the disease model of drug abuse and addiction, in which drug users need help and support, and the view that drug users deliberately engage in drug using behavior – and need to be punished, and stopped.
Klieman says that some people who promote the “disease” theory of substance abuse and addiction ignore the fact that drug abuse is a disorder of the will. In his view : disease and bad habits are completely consistent descriptions of the same behavior.
When people have a “disease” they lack effective control over their own behavior due to having the disease. It is not the case that substance abusers have no control whatesoever about making it their “choice” to keep on substance abusing. However, this is not to say that the choice to keep on using drugs is freely made. Issues about substance abuse will continue to rage until there can be an official view taken that drug abuse is a willed choice – by a person acting under duress – in response to stress and adverse influences in their life.
The problem with taking this viewpoint is that it means drug use and its associated problems cannot be confined to issues about “what to do with the drug user” – is he to be punished or supported. If we take the viewpoint that drug use is a choice that we might make in response to certain pressures – clearly the way to deal with substance abuse is to look at ways of relieving the stress and pressures that substance abusers see themselves as being under.
Drug users invariably say that given the choice and ability, they would get out of the whole drug environment. For people born into areas such as downtown Vancouver, BC, life style options and the “chances” of avoiding the lure of drug use are considerably less, than in more affluent areas, where other options are generally more accessible.
When people have limited personal skills, and limited social options, they might choose to deal in drugs for profit, or to get relief from the emotional pain of living in a “poor” environment.
The challenge of dealing effectively with drug use is that very often it is the status quo, in family relationships, and in society that is presenting the problem. Drug abuse by parents in the home, living in a geographical location where there is widescale unemployment, both act so as to make a person feel relatively disempowered, compared with others in the world, and drugs are seen as providing a means of empowerment.
As it is unlikely that those responsible for unfairness in life situations will make changes, ultimately it is the responsibiliy of the person with drugs in their life, to do domething about their situation.
The existence of safe drug using facilities, such as Insite, Vancouver are seen by some as doing too much to enable drug users, others see it as not doing enough to really enable drug users to get themselves out of the cycle of addiction.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, drug users who want to get free of drug influence can use traditional programs that generally have a very low success rate, or they can use a comprehensive drug addiction recovery model, based on personal and social empowerment.
Treating the whole person for their drug use, and helping them to get release from conditions that are blocking them from making better life style choices, is not easy but it is the only way that people can get genuine freedom from drug influence in their life.
When people in Vancouver BC make the decision to become drug free – they will be best supported in their endeavors by using a Narconon program - that is designed to achieve complete substance abuse recovery, and the improvement of social skills.
