Substance abuse needs more attention

Michael,

As an ex crisis councillor (which included drugs) I have to support the thrust of your article. Prohibition has never worked for any substance abuse. For 11 years Australia's drugs policy has been dominated by sanctimonious Religious leaders who spent obsceme amounts tax payer money on absinance TV ads. Some enlightened people even tried Harm minimization. But it ran into problems from the NIMBY (not in my back yard) bigade and the and ads publicizing the 'honey pot scenario' .

 In fact one ad clainming to have drug deal happening behind the safe shoooting gallary the footage turned out to be from a Uni movie made 5 years earlies in another city! It came to light that the man behind the scam was a candidate for a religious political party who actually wanted to develop a block of land up the street.

My experience tells me that a large percentage of adicts are what I call 'Circumstancial Addicts' ie they became adicts as a consequence of their circumstancas. Family drugs, abuse both child and physical, poverty lack of opotunities. I would submit that greater effort should be to understand the origines of the adictions and offermore timely and more effective intervention, help and support. I subscribe to the concept that addiction is a disease and it need treatment. I am aware that no matter how good the service are there will always be fools, wilful and lost causes.

 The tragedy is that Substance abuse is to those who will change the government  (the 10% in the middle) is a 'Somebody elses problem'. If it the issue pushed too hard it will frighten them into turning conservative.

I wish you the best in your endeavours

by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 2:10:52 AM
 

What is responsible use

The zero tollerance policies of our War on drugs has brought up unpresidented ways for elitests within any group to isolate undesirables.  Most often these policies end up supporting testing agencies that provide costly tests that are beatable by those in the know and unrealiable with false positives.

I know past efforts at instituting drug testing in Maine have resulted in contractors testing new hires while transferring employees to the same job without testing them.  In Maine an employer has to pay for the rehabilitation of employees who test positive so they only test new hires and do not make them employees until the results are in.  Many of the transferred employees would test positive if the tests were given and were accurate.

It has always been easy to look out for the safety of a crew by any supervisor who pays attention to the conditions most of the time coworkers are alert to the safety condition surrounding any operation and assign tasks  accordingly or tell any unsafe employees to go home.

People are people.  There is a small percentage that does not use alcohol or any other drugs ever.  Over half of them are in recovery which means they have had problems.  Some problems get blamed on alcohol and drugs when they are really mental problems in which alcohol and or drug abuse is a symptom. 

PTSD is such a mental problem.  Often some types get treated adaquately however military PTSD is often denied by the VA.  The buracracy is set up to give the victims enough hoops to jump through that many withdraw (another symptom) and succum to depression (another symptom).  A large number cannot believe that our government will so easily turn its back on these men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country that they feel as though they have no place to turn.  Family and friends get tired of hearing those who will share whine so they turn them away or worse yet play games to frustrate the vet (a very dangerous game).  Too many end up in their frustration committing suicide which is what the VA really desires.  It allows the gatekeepers more control over money that they kept from going where it really belongs out there saving Vets not giving some do nothing a job.

The war on drugs feeds a fascist self righteous buracracy who love to be in control even if they are more guilty then the ones they oppress.  Our government has supported the distribution of Contra Crack while spending large sums of money feeding an effort to eaticate drugs in South America.  Right now in Afghanistan there is a bumper crop of poppies being protected by our servicemen so the drug lords will help with our efforts in Afghanistan.

Doctors on the other hand often over medicate because they receive kickbacks on the drugs the perscribe.  Far too many kids have been given antidepressants or drugs like aderol for the attention deficit problems.  The real problem is that all our buracracies require untruthful requirements some people have a hard time dealing with hypocracy so the don't listen well to the BS.

by Sleeper (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 276 comments) on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 7:15:07 AM