The War On Drugs
by Bubble Boy

We’re always hearing about our governments efforts to eradicate drug abuse in the country being called “The War On Drugs”. As a recovering heroin addict myself, i believe that the use of this term & the ensuing prejudices it illicit has misled much of the public into viewing the addict as the “enemy” in this so called “war”. And i have found from personal experience that the stigma that arises from this misconception is perhaps the single largest obstacle a recovering addict faces when trying to reintegrate into society.

I am by no means suggesting that the addict should be considered the innocent victim here (an addict may be many things, but innocent is certainly not one of them), however neither should they be viewed as the soulless, faceless enemy that needs to be ruthlessly persecuted & prosecuted. If similes must be used to at all, a more accurate one would be that of the “prisoner of war” held hostage by his own addiction. Or perhaps an even better analogy would be that of cannon fodder being sent out into the front-lines to destroy & be destroyed by forces above & beyond their control.

Who then is the “enemy” in this “war”? The drug dealer? The corrupt official? The policy makers? i believe that it simply doesn’t matter! Because finding some convenient “bad guy” to point our fingers at & blame might help us to sleep a little better at night as it alleviates the burden of responsibility from ourselves, but certainly isn’t going to solve any problems, & may in fact, be counter-productive to finding any real solutions to the problem as it misdirects the publics attention from the issues that really need to be addressed.

If we are to ever come anywhere close to finding a cure for drug addiction & solutions for the very real & pressing threat it poses, a very drastic paradigm shift & change in mind-set must occur both within government as well as in public consciousness. The 1st thing that needs to happen is the realisation that drug addiction is a psychological disorder & should be treated as the medical condition that it is without questions of morality undermining treatment or confusing issues.

What needs to be understood is that crime & other such anti-social behaviour is merely a symptom of the disease in the same way that bad breath is a symptom of halitosis. And no matter how many breath mints you pop to try to mask the odour, the stink will persist until we can cure the disease. One thing that i, along with the countless millions around the world who’ve experienced the devastating effects of drug addiction 1st hand know, is that the “war on drugs”, isn’t so much a war but rather a long slow siege.

END.

BTW: Catch BUBBLE BOY performing tonight at the Unclogged’s All Tomorrow’s Bitter Rockstars gig.