I’ve never been a social person, so when I was a teenager and young adult, I never hung out with the druggies or the stoners, and I wasn’t invited to many parties. I didn’t take my first drink until I was in college. Even though I drank to excess a few times, I never became a regular drinker. It just doesn’t appeal to me that much. I enjoy feeling tipsy now and then, but I don’t like the taste. It costs money, too, and I’ve never had much of that. I’ve never taken any illegal drugs. I’ve taken prescription tranquilizers off and on for years due to my anxiety. They help, but I like to be awake and alert, so that’s not something that’s all that alluring either. Same thing with prescription pain killers. I was given a steady supply for a year following my head surgeries, but I was happy to switch to ibuprofen when I could. For a long time, I’ve wondered if marijuana might help with my anxiety, and I’ve resented the fact I couldn’t try it without breaking the law.
So I guess I have been directly affected by the war on drugs, but not so much that I feel persecuted. However, I do think addicts have been seriously harmed by anti-drug laws and our society’s general attitude toward addicts. For years, I’ve believed addiction should be treated as an illness, not as a crime. I’ve also become increasingly aware of the racial aspects of the war on drugs.
I can’t say Johann Hari’s Chasing the Scream changed my mind about many things, but I was deeply moved by it. I’m now more convinced than ever that we have been making a bad situation worse for decades.
For me, the most striking part of the book was the personal stories of the addicts and the conclusion that these are mostly people who have faced some serious problems in their lives aside from addiction. Many were abused and traumatized as children. Many are paralyzed by depression, loneliness and fear. Most people who drink don’t become alcoholic, and most who take drugs don’t become addicts. So why do addicts get hooked? It might be that the physical dependence isn’t the clincher. Many if not most addicts might turn to drugs for the same reason we all do after slipping on ice, or getting a tooth pulled, or getting a head tumor removed. They want to kill the pain. Turning them into criminals and giving them records that make it difficult for them to get jobs, apartments or student loans only exacerbates the problem.
Prohibition does not eliminate drugs. It only pushes them completely out of the sphere of regulation so that criminals are the ones delivering them. The criminals typically sell to anyone with money, including children, and because they can’t rely on police protection, they resort to barbarism and terrorism to get their product to market. Users can never be sure of what they’re getting, and dealers also tend to sell the most highly potent form of drugs. Before and after alcohol prohibition, beer was the most popular form of alcohol, but more concentrated alcohol became prevalent in the ’20s, and many were poisoned. We’ve all heard the stories of coke in soda and allegedly medicinal syrups. Those doses were mild compared to what addicts today usually take.
Prohibition also drives up the cost, which means addicts often engage in criminal activity to pay for their habit. Some steal, some prostitute themselves. Many become dealers themselves so that in order to buy drugs, they recruit new drug users.
Chasing the Scream is illuminating and informative. Most of the information might not be all that shocking to those who have been paying attention, but there was one thing that did surprise me. Many addicts stop using on their own without any treatment. They simply grow out of it. Maybe they work through their personal demons. Maybe they found something that gives them hope. Maybe drugs are especially appealing when we’re young and filled with anxieties, and once we’re settled and have been around the block a few times, we relax. Who can say for sure? Hari believes one of the most important things addicts need is connection. They need to feel connected to other people and to the community at large.
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