Drug Demand Reduction
By Grainne Kenny
An estimated 200 million people, or 5% of the global population aged between 15-64yrs have used illicit drugs at least once in the past year. Britain and Ireland have the highest number of drug and alcohol users in Europe. Cannabis is still the most widely used drug worldwide and in Italy 10% of the population smoke cannabis on a regular daily basis. There is a well-organized and well financed movement worldwide to legalize this very dangerous and addictive drug. The main financier behind this movement is US based but Hungarian born George Soros
In 1989 a group of concerned European citizens (including myself) formed an independent voluntary NGO whose goal is to reduce the demand for drugs in Europe. We were the first voluntary organization to address DEMAND REDUCTION and the first international independent NGO of this kind. Since then EURAD has grown in strength and numbers and although we still have little or no money our affiliates are drawn from Africa, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, the US and South America as well of course within Europe. Ours is a network of committed people who advise, lobby and support each other to attain best practice in Prevention, Support and Treatment
The thinking behind our group was that customs borders in Europe were to be dismantled in line with new European policies and the forming of the EU. Therefore drugs would be easier to smuggle and use would escalate. We also recognized that there were two policies being promoted on fighting the drugs culture.
- The first was the War on Drugs. E.g. Policing, Customs, Crop Eradication and of course prison.
- The second proposal was to Legalize / Decriminalize.
- The 3rd Way policy is clearly the way forward. Demand Reduction
Drug education for pupils, parents, politicians and others in the wider community with a clear message on drug use or peddling is necessary. There must be clear consequences for both with counselling and rehabilitation readily available. The social circumstances must also be addressed. If a kid is hungry, if his parents are alcoholic or drug addicted or if he or she has been sexually abused or is being bullied in the community this will need to be put right. Just to say NO to drugs is not enough. NO must mean many things. We have learned from history that liberal drug policies have a negative effect on society. We must engage in prevention as well as best practice treatments that eliminate the disease. Strong prevention methods are the way forward matched with early intervention and immediate and humane treatment.
EURAD’s aim is for a drug free society. We believe this is achievable although realistically sometime in the future. However, we are morally obliged to aspire to it for the future of all children. When reducing the demand for drugs or focussing on prevention we have to address the issues around parental drug and alcohol use. Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous (and addictive), they are not dangerous because they are illegal. Changing the laws or dismantling the UN Conventions on Drugs will not change that fact.
If society ignores the importance of PREVENTION in this global pandemic then we will be judged harshly by future generations. The world’s most valuable asset is our young people
Drug abuse is consumption of drugs, other than for medicinal purposes or in unnecessary quantities .people who abuse and develop dependence on narcotics drugs and psychoses substances are generally known as ''drug addicts'' From the sociologist point of view ''drug addiction is the state of assimilation into a specific life style of drug taking ''where is from the psychiatric and medical point of view. it implies physical ,psychological and psychic dependence on the tolerance of drug with tendency to increase the doses, legally in several countries it is explained as ''habitual use of drugs ,associated with their loss of self-control and consequences detrimental to the individual and harmful to the public morals, safety ,health and welfare of the society . The world health organization (WHO, 1973) has defined drug abuse as a stat of periodic, chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and to the society, produced by repeated consumption of drugs either natural or synthetic. The value loaded meanings of terms like drug abuse, drug addiction, drug habituation etc. .forced the WHO( 1974)to replace this concept with the new one called ''DRUG DPENDENCE" the WHO defies this as a state arising from the above conceptualization of drug abuse. It is not a new problem to be tackled, it is being dealt globally since so many decades but now it demands specials emphasis and integrated by developing countries that require extensive programs but have limited resources as compared to developed countries that have well planned principles to follow.
Drug abuse is consumption of drugs, other than for medicinal purposes or in unnecessary quantities .people who abuse and develop dependence on narcotics drugs and psychoses substances are generally known as ''drug addicts'' From the sociologist point of view ''drug addiction is the state of assimilation into a specific life style of drug taking ''where is from the psychiatric and medical point of view. it implies physical ,psychological and psychic dependence on the tolerance of drug with tendency to increase the doses, legally in several countries it is explained as ''habitual use of drugs ,associated with their loss of self-control and consequences detrimental to the individual and harmful to the public morals, safety ,health and welfare of the society . The world health organization (WHO, 1973) has defined drug abuse as a stat of periodic, chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and to the society, produced by repeated consumption of drugs either natural or synthetic. The value loaded meanings of terms like drug abuse, drug addiction, drug habituation etc. .forced the WHO( 1974)to replace this concept with the new one called ''DRUG DPENDENCE" the WHO defies this as a state arising from the above conceptualization of drug abuse. It is not a new problem to be tackled, it is being dealt globally since so many decades but now it demands specials emphasis and integrated by developing countries that require extensive programs but have limited resources as compared to developed countries that have well planned principles to follow.