Looking over the past twenty years, it seems more people are stuggling with substance abuse then ever before. We constantly hear that our children are getting addicted at earlier and earlier ages. In the drug rehabilitaion field we hear of clients going to the sixth or even seventh drug rehab. There are examples of people in the late thirties and even early forties, with little druge abuse history, developing rather quickly a full blown drug addiction with all it’s harsh life disrupting effects.

Two questions come to mind immediately when considering the above statments. One is, are these statements really true? Is the drug addiction problem getting worse? Are our kids getting in trouble with alcohol and drugs at a ever lower age than before? The answer seems to be to both questions a resounding yes. Despite massive efforts through police and drug enforcement, and monumental drug abuse education plans, it doesn’t seem like the tide has yet turned on the “drug war”. The statistics again seem say we are putting people in jail for drug related crimes faster than ever and our incarceration levels are at all time highs.

If it is true, and our drug and alcohol problems are increasing, the second obvious question is, WHY? What has changed or is still changing, that allows the problem of drug abuse to grow and grow. Many people point to a breakdown of the family, and a decreasing of the moral values of our country. While this is an easy target to blame, it is also a difficult one to study and quantify as there are so many variables in play at once. When our politicians tackle the drug addiction problem, this is an area they love to focus on. It gives them the “high” moral ground. Mom, apple pie, and God, who can be against those?

I wish to pose the idea, that it might not be tied to the “breakdown” of society. More people than ever before are graduating from universties and colleges. More people than ever are concentrating on personal growth, and learning. Spirituality in a myriad of forms grows in the hearts of many, many people. As was witnessed in the post 9/11 surge in enrolment in the military and the unbelieveable effort of the men and women in Iraq, patriotistism, and the belief in democracy and the values of what this country stand for are alive and well. Could there be a simpler basis of the drug addiction we face today?

The two most difficult areas of the drug and alcohol today are the issues of availability and potency. Twenty-five years ago, before the advent of cell phones and pagers, you had to drive into the “rough” part of town and find somebody to supply you. Difficult, and not a process that could be repeated over and over again easily. It was not something that young children could do. Twenty-five years ago, alcohol was not available in countless retail outlets that were open essentially 24 hours, seven days a week. Now most illicit and presciption drugs as well as alcohol are delivered to your door, simply by placing a phone call to your dealer, pharmacy, or alcohol outlet.

The quality and strength of illicit drugs is far, far greater than 25 years ago. Many of todays drugs of choice didn’t even exist in the 1970’s and 80’s. Cannibis is up to twenty times more potent now than before. With the current crop of drugs out there being so much more “effective”, the time it takes to become truly addicted is quite short. Then when you try to stop, they are constantly available so that at any moment of weakness, you have the potential to slip.

The constant availability also decreases our fear or concern towards the issue. The sad fact is that we were far more “afraid” of drugs individually in the 70’s when the drugs were weaker and less effective. The substances that are abused today, are far more addictive, cheap, and dangerous, and yet are so commonplace the “fear” is gone. However as the drugs grew more potent and pure, our abillities to deal with addicted people did not grow at the same rate. A tipping point has occured in the situation. Attacking drugs by trying to stop the supply does not seem to be working. Other options might have to take considered. Society as a whole has made smoking no longer “socially” acceptable. Smokers have been driven out of all public buildings, most restaurants and now even bars. Many smokers complain that soon they won’t be able to smoke in their own homes. Maybe this is the direction we need to go with the drug addiction problem.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 15th, 2005 at 9:29 am and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.