DRUGS OFFER 'ESCAPE FACTOR'

The concept of mind alteration is one that is not unfamiliar to most humans
- -- a significant number of our species have at least tried to alter their
mental state at one time or another, through either alcohol, drugs (both
legal and illicit), mental exercises and what have you.

One can even make the argument that alteration of the mental state is a
human instinct -- from the Ancient Egyptian widespread drinking of beer and
use of the blue lotus flowers as aphrodisiacs to the Greek god Dionysus, a
patron of wild intoxication; from the history of opium to the tale of the
hashish eaters in the acclaimed literary work "1001 Arabian Nights," the
idea of intoxication at some level is one that we can all fire -- er, warm
- -- up to at some extent -- but to what extent? Any and all users of any
available intoxicant will likely give a similar answer -- there is a fine
line between the recreational use and dependence on an intoxicant.

If this is the case, then what is it that separates the recreational user
from the dependent user? How can recreational users know that they have gone
too far, that they have crossed over into unstable territory?

Although the answer may be multi-faceted, it can be boiled down to one
particular point -- the escape factor.

Any seasoned drug user will undoubtedly agree that the most common point at
which a user loses control is when the act of intoxication shifts from being
a recreational activity to one that is essential for the user to escape from
the outside world and its many anxieties -- this is the nature of drug
abuse.

If Washington wants to pursue an effective war on drugs, it is this factor
- -- the escape factor -- that it has to target.

Although one may put forth the argument that Washington needs to provide
more to the Colombians in terms of either carrots or sticks, the real war is
a domestic one.

Taking out local drug leaders won't quell the problem either, as for every
collapsed drug ring, there is another waiting to take over its markets.

If the government wants to combat drugs in any way, it needs to begin
entertaining the idea that drug abuse might be the result of poverty as
opposed to its cause.

If one follows this logic, it should come as no surprise that drug use and
trafficking is most rampant in the less affluent communities.

Not only are the people in these communities affected by having to deal with
the difficulties of their own poverty, but are also negatively affected by
the impoverishment of their neighbors. To keep food on the table, members of
these communities take to selling drugs; to escape from their life of
impoverishment, other members of these communities turn to the dealers.

Once hooked, the addicts in such communities are offered fewer opportunities
to overcome their addiction - for them, employment opportunities are lower,
decent housing is harder to find, and money for medical treatment is hard to
come by, and the vicious downward spiral persists.

Whilst the money that goes to the former pair cannot be called ill-spent,
one must wonder if it is being spent in the best way possible.

Although it is important to send out the message that drug trafficking will
not be tolerated, is it fair that taxpayer dollars are also being spent to
jail those charged with possession?

Moreover, would the money not be put to better use if it were redirected
toward rehabilitation programs for the less affluent?

By arresting dealers and users, we add more to the trials of living in the
ghetto.

What if we were to eliminate the need for drugs and drug dealing in these
ghettoes?

What if the drug control budget were spent on employment programs, livable
housing projects, and other empowerment designs? Such questions beg to be
asked.

Drugs are here and they are here to stay.

No government action, be it in the form of a carrot or stick, will stop the
flow of drugs into the country -- we should come to accept drugs as a part
of human existence, at least on a recreational level.

That, however, is not to say that we should sit idly and watch as our
countrymen cross the line from recreational use to dependence.

Currently, we operate on a system of prevention fear -- the only reason to
stop doing drugs is fear of the consequences.

However, if we were to redirect our energies toward stopping the very need
for drugs, we would have successfully tackled the problem at the root.

Only then will terms like "cokehead" be on equal footing with terms like
"pothead" -- how accepting of marijuana are we, again?