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[4usch1n]

From CBS news:

Despite tough anti-drug laws, a new survey shows the U.S. has the highest level of illegal drug use in the world

Comments

[darcyshirley]

In a few of my classes we discussed studies about this seeming disconnect between policy and use. One factor these researchers point to is drug education programs. They have drug education programs in the Netherlands, but they're focussed more on responsible use rather than scare tactics. The point is that our country doesn't foster an environment that people really get to learn about drugs and when it is and isn't appropriate to use them. There's no underlying social structure in the US about drugs. But in the Netherlands, their educational programs pretty much match up with the social attitudes toward drugs, so there's more consensus about how to use them and a lot more respect for what drugs can do. Another example researchers point to is about alcohol use. Italy has the highest rate of alcohol use in the world, but one of the lowest alcoholism rates. The reason for this, most researchers say, is that in Italy you learn to drink within your family, so you're educated about it differently, and its' not so stigmatized and mystified. You're taught more responsible use instead of being scared from using it at all. I think the Netherlands faces the fact that most drugs aren't going to kill you the first time you use them if you know what you're doing, so rather than try to keep people from using them using scare tactics like tough laws and educational programs, they figure they should at least make sure that if you DO use them, you use them responsibly. The whole result is that drugs in the Netherlands are demystified. We, in the US, aren't raised in an environment that teaches us how to be responsible users of really anything, lol. Our policies pretty much just tell us not to ever try anything, which is ridiculous, especially since it counters most of our social attitudes toward drugs.