Drugs

Drugs seem to get bad press a lot of the time, there’s hardly a time when drugs are mentioned negatively, whether it’s on TV or in the newspapers, drugs are bad. But if they are so bad why do people use them? Maybe it’s the being “cool” factor, which smoking has, or as Magda discusses well in her blog, a type of experimentation, just to see what they are like, or perhaps there are a variety of reasons, besides people don’t all start smoking for the same reasons.

There is an argument lately that the government should legalise drugs and then they can be properly regulated, and maybe that’s the right way. In the Netherlands they make the distinction between “hard drugs” which are cocaine, heroin etc, and “soft drugs” which are weed, mushrooms. Soft drugs can be purchased and used legally, but you are only allowed a certain amount. The Netherlands have the lowest amount of drug related deaths a year in Europe, maybe it’s time that the government changed their policy. I guess that also part of the fun of taking drugs is the fact that it’s exciting and illegal, perhaps if it were legalised this appeal would stop.

As with smoking there are a lot of famous people who take drugs, and nothing bad seems to happen to them. If the media are to be believed every drug addict is a terrible person, who turns to crime to fund their addictions. But then they praise The Beatles, yet fail to mention that they wrote most of their songs whilst under the influence of LSD. Such is the prevalence of taking drugs the BBC has a website with the best drug songs on it. Even in modern times when there is such a stigma about drugs, musicians have songs glorifying them such as “High all the time” by 50 Cent and “Special K” by Placebo. Is it okay for famous people to be able to take drugs because they can afford their addictions?

I guess that the government cannot condone drug taking as it would cause outcry from everyone whos lives have been ruined by drug taking. I mean there are always the horror stories from parents who’s child became a drug addict and took an overdose. There are countless people who are sleeping rough and stealing to fuel their addictions. Maybe the government needs to take more time with these people than it does on cracking down on drinking teenagers who, despite how drunk they get will most probably have a loving home to return to on the evening.

Personally I think that there needs to be some kind of review on the drugs policy. It seems as though there is a view that it was okay for people to take drugs in the past, like when a lot of Politian’s owned up to smoking weed at University, but now it’s not allowed. Maybe this is because drug taking used to be reserved to the middle classes, as the working classes were too poor to afford drugs, yet now they are more widely available they should be stopped. Besides a lot of drug taking in the working classes would stop people from doing their jobs and so cause a break down in the capitalist society. Is our stigma of drugs just a way of keeping the working class working and the upper classes richer?

References
http://magda-overthehillsandfaraway.blogspot.com/
http://www.world66.com/europe/netherlands/amsterdam/drugs
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/67
http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/Netherlands/general,health_care.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/top5/drug_songs.shtml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/1557862/Jacqui-Smith-admits-to-smoking-cannabis.html