KNOWLEDGE - DOES IT CREATE INCREASED DRUG USAGE?

There was a startling proposition put forward to the media by a drug
counsellor last week - namely, that knowledge can be a bad thing.

In a news release, Karen Zwakenberg of Choices for Change, said that
a campaign to get youths off methamphetamine drugs may actually be
encouraging more use of other dangerous drugs.

"A frightening trend that we at Choices for Change have seen over the
past year has been more youth using chemical drugs than ever before,"
she states in a media release.

"We believe that this is a spinoff of the very valid media information
about meth being so dangerous. The result of this information for some
youth is to play down how dangerous other drugs are, even if they
might previously have considered them dangerous. We are seeing more
youth using dangerous drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, large amounts of
caffeine, hallucinogens, as well as cannabis and alcohol."

Choices for Change: Alcohol, Drug & Gambling Counselling Centre is a
member of the Perth County Taskforce on Crystal Meth, which makes the
warning even more ironic.

I must challenge Ms. Zwakenberg. Knowledge, in my view, should never
be depicted as a dangerous thing. More to the point, I don't believe
that young people turn to drugs because they get information about how
bad they are. Nor do I believe that telling people crystal meth is
deadly causes them to use other drugs. "Oh, I hear there's a drug
called crystal meth that's bad, so why don't we go out and try some
cocaine?" Sorry, I just don't think it happens that way. People get
into drugs for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is peer
pressure, but people who do not use drugs are not going to go out and
start using them just because they read an article about how bad
crystal meth is. Drug users may switch to another drug, perhaps. But
I don't believe for a minute that an article warning people about
crystal meth will drive a non-drug user into the street looking for
his first hit of cocaine.

I comment on the issue because I am always on guard when "experts" try
to blame the media (even as gently as did the good and sincere
counsellor) for giving out too much information. It is the harbinger
of censorship. The problem with the world today is not that people
have too much knowledge about what is good or bad for them. The
problem is they don't have enough. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is
certainly not healthy. Knowledge about the dangers of meth is not
driving non-drug users to use drugs; it is not increasing drug use. If
drug use is up, it is not because the media or the meth taskforce is
telling the truth to young people. So, if it is up, we had better find
out the real reason.