It's just been reported on the BBC news that here in the UK that we have the highest level of amphetamine use in Europe, and the 3rd highest level of heroin use despite having the highest detection and seizure rate in the EEC. Now I'm not going to moralise about the rights and wrongs of drugs use and misuse, but it is simple fact that clubbing, youth culture and drugs use in the UK are inextricably linked. It is estimated that approximately 120,000 tablets of Ecstacy are taken
every weekend here. However, jailing drug users and addicts doesn't work, and never has. Over 85% of the USA's prison population are there for drugs offences- do you honestly believe that they are
all going to come out of jail one day and be clean? Get real. We are
never going to stop drug use.
Those people who get addicted to heroin and crack cocaine aren't just morons (any sane-minded adult knows the dangers of those two drugs), they're sick. They need
treatment, not putting in prison. Jesus, if I were in prison I'd want to be off my head every single day for the rest of my life just to try to forget the experience!
What we need to do is
educate our young people. Moralising against huge swathes of youth cultures or alienating already disenfranchised people is counter productive- a lot of people will use drugs in a recreational way when they go out, so why make them feel bad about it? Why criminalise them?
There are many good resources all over the net giving information on the chemical components of drugs, and why opiates work on the human body to what to do in an emergency, or if someone OD's.
I say that if you are going to take drugs you have a duty to yourself and your friends to educate yourself as much as possible. Read up as much as possible on your chosen drug(s). Think about what you've read and then find out some more. And then think about it again. Learn what to do if a friend OD's. Try to find out what to do if somebody you suspect/know has taken Ecstacy and appears to be struggling or over-heating.
I'm not going to say whether you should or shouldn't take drugs- if you're going clubbing this weekend your mind's probably made up anyway. But if one person reads this, and goes on to save someone's life, then surely it was worth it.
Think about it.
TalkToFrankBNFdancesafeThe three sites above contain information that
could save someone's life.
