A test for the president
One day at high school, together with my class mates, I was discussing the issue of drugs addiction with my teacher of literature . She was of the opinion that the only solution to defeat the spread of drugs, was the total liberalisation . I was shocked to hear such an opinion from someone who was educating me and moreover, was in her late sixties . One wouldn't expect revolutionary ideas from an old lady . "See", she said, "that is the only way if we want to put an end to this plague , because only those who are already using drugs, or with weak personalities, would die . The well educated, those who follow a religion or have high morals and a balanced life, in the long run, won't indulge in the abuse . Once we destroy the market, the problem will be solved forever . "
After twenty and more years, I must sadly agree with her . I think we tried everything or almost, and for how many positive results we achieved in fighting drugs trafficking and addiction, the negative ones are always overwhelming .
Today, during a visit in Irtkusk, the president of Russian federation, outlined a plan to be developed by his government, to defeat drugs addiction among the Russian youth .
One of the points which sparked controversies among commentators, was his idea to set up drug tests for students . Now, with all my appreciation for his good intentions in solving a problem which is of extreme gravity and consequences for such a large country and population, I must include myself in the circle of those who highly criticised him .
According to statistics, the experiment has not proved successful in America, where the students found positive to the test, continued to use drugs despite the rehabilitation period .
But what is important to consider here, is that the reliability of these tests is relatively accurate when done on common people . The president noted that few use codeine and similar products, but there is a wide range of substances which can influence the test, so if one is not a professional sports person, I mean someone who has a list of substances to avoid, the test can easily have a positive result . It can be anything in the food or in any anti-allergic medication and it can easily create a false positive .
The student will be put in a situation of high stress and humiliation, and there is no teacher or social assistant who can relieve him because this will be a completely new experience for them . And every little mistake done, will compromise the future life of these young individuals . Let's say anyway that a list can be prepared, and those using some medicaments will be excused for a positive test, this will just increase the level of illegality because the student will search for a doctor ready to write a certificate stating that he had to use a medication interfering with the lab results .
Early detection as president Medvedev put it, is a nice idea, but it is unrealistic .
Another point highlighted, is the abolition of jail for some cases, in favour of rehabilitation . So, if first he indulged in repressive methods, now he wants to abolish them . The middle ways are always the best : I'd rather improve the conditions of life in prison in order to maximize the outcome of the rehabilitation .
Blocking the popularization of drugs use, by shutting down dedicated internet websites, is another repressive method which barely will give results but rather raise the level of illegal users . I've experienced this while I was in the Gulf, where all porn sites are blocked . People learned ways to go round the obstacle .
Last week an FSB officer came out with the idea to block Skype and other sites, to fight terrorism . Those same Medvedev supporters, and sources from the Kremlin itself, commented on the proposal very negatively . I would like to remind that Skype is the major tool used by terrorists to communicate between themselves and in fact it was blocked for some time in the M.E.
Of course blocking the major emails websites is definitely unrealistic, but justified by the emergency situation concerning terrorism, in which Russia finds itself .
My old teacher's theory, was highly cynical but tied to reality .
Politicians most of times, live in another world .
I would set up a test , before allowing them to rule a country, to see if they are really in touch with the people they claim to represent .