Why are illicit drug users still treated like second class citizens by various governments, services and the public? Why does injecting of speed or heroin degrade one's humanity?
I’ve got this interest in humans as a species, in terms of how we’ve developed over the millennia. It’s always kind of trendy to talk about how bad things are – pollution, terrorism, global warming, wars and so on. But taking the long perspective, we are getting there, bit by bit. I figure civilisation is simply a matter of needing to acknowledge others are human beings too, and therefore worthy of basic respects and rights.
Take war as an example. Until recent times, a stronger tribe or country could kill, enslave or demand tribute from anyone weaker. It was simply the law of the jungle. Nowadays, this is a comparatively rare attitude and we have the United Nations, international law, treaties and diplomats to minimise this dog-eat-dog attitude.
As for slavery, this barbaric custom was widely practised around the world by Western powers. Anti-slavery advocates were regarded as dickheads by all, but now of course, we look back and wonder why it took so long for the world to catch on.
Throughout history, women were often regarded as little more than animals, traded, abused and enslaved. While this still occurs in many countries, it has been on the decline for centuries now as feminism has led to women having equal rights to men.
However, illicit drugs is one of those areas where it is taking a long time to get a commonsense approach based on valuing people. The USA has long pushed for a war on illicit drugs, and encouraged this approach in the United Nations and other countries 1. Many have argued that this approach is the same that demonised witches in the 17th century and communists in the 20th century — now illicit drug users are the new demons. Thailand police killed 600 drug dealers (in self defence apparently) in the first two weeks of an anti-drug campaign 2. Hepatitis C and HIV are running amok in Russia because the government refuses to distribute needles and syringes 3.
Simplistic, knee-jerk reactions from the conservative end of politics will always seek quick fixes to complex issues. This same conservatism insists that illicit drugs are treated as a criminal issue instead of a health issue. A war on drugs? You’d think having to use the word ‘war’ would give a hint to the primitive, aggressive nature of this strategy. Do policy makers have such a short memory that they can’t remember prohibition, the ‘war on alcohol’ earlier in the last century? That resulted in a huge increase in crime, did nothing to stop those who insisted on their drug, and resulted in serious health issues due to poor distillation? Does this sound somewhat similar to today’s situation with illicit drugs?
There is good news, with the policy of harm minimisation being adopted around the world. Australia is miles ahead of most countries in this regard. Our Health departments have recognised the need for this practical approach, so we now have needle and syringe programs, information on safe injecting, and support for those who want to reduce their use or quit. But democracies being what they are, some areas of public policy still reflect the conservative reaction of the general public who think users of illicit drugs should be jailed. Our legal system is still struggling to catch up in terms of developing a practical response.
Still I am hopeful, as most of the time we are still moving forward. In decades to come, we may look back on today as a very backward time when users were still treated as second class citizens by the criminal justice system and the Government still had a long way to go in terms of getting its policy together.
1 http://www.worldpolicy.org/globalrights/samerica/2000-0320-JOC.html
2 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/24/1046063961035.html
3 http://hrw.org/reports/2004/russia0404/1.htm
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