“Ban! Imprison! Ignore!”
by Alasdair Sladen
“We know best” seems to be the raison d’être of our current government. Alcohol? Instead of attempting to change social attitudes, let the taps flow with 24-hour drinking. Drugs? Ignore the actual scientific evidence given by our advisors and fire them if they disagree too loudly. The fallout from the sacking of Professor David Nutt as chair of the Advisory Council of the Misuse of Drugs after he stated that ecstasy was less dangerous than horse riding has reignited the questioning of the government’s logic in its drug policy.
As with all government policy, drug policy should be sound and evidence-based, not dictated to by the hysterical masses, drug policy should lead the way and be brave. We need to wake up and admit that drug-users aren’t all crazed deviants, knifing old ladies for their next fix; a large portion of this country happily and safely take drugs recreationally. It shouldn’t be a taboo to say so, but it is: nice people take drugs.
In 1995, Rachel Betts, a middle class schoolgirl died after an apparent overdose of ecstasy. The popular press seized upon this story, resulting in a huge campaign of billboards and videos shown in schools proclaiming; “Sorted: Just one ecstasy tablet took Leah Betts”. It was later discovered during the coroner’s inquiry that Leah did not die as a result of ecstasy consumption, but rather the result of the large quantity of water she had consumed, following advice given to ravers to drink water to avoid dehydration. Leah, in reality no stranger to taking ecstasy, following this misinformation consumed around seven litres of water in less than 90 minutes, resulting in water intoxication, leading to severe swelling of the brain, causing her death. During this inquest, Professor John Henry, who had previously warned the public of the danger of ecstasy causing death by dehydration changed his tune, stating that “If Leah had taken the drug alone she might well have survived.”
You’d think that in a response to this that the government would have acted practically by providing accurate information to would-be drug users as to avoid tragedies such as these, but 15 years later this still isn’t the case. The Government’s source of drug information, the Talk to Frank website instead gives ineffectual information, amounting to nothing more than what you would except from a PSHE lesson aged 13. Horror stories, intended to spook potential users and information ignoring real-life situations amount to nothing more than a lecture. Arrests of drug-users have increased since the website was launched, proving that the whole campaign has been a farce. By refusing to provide practical and helpful information, the government is effectively denying that actual drug-users exist and is not committed to harm reduction. Hospitalisation due to drug-related incidents needlessly costs the NHS millions a year – accepting that people do take drugs and providing practical information could prevent this from happening in the first place.
The media, who might have thought would now be putting pressure on the government to adapt towards an evidence-based drug policy, is instead baying “Ban! Imprison! Ignore!” at every available opportunity. Last year, 14-year-old Gabrielle Price died after a party and before the coroners report had even been published, the tabloids proclaimed that that she “died after taking a suspected drug cocktail including mephedrone.” Ultimately the coroner reported that she suffered a cardiac arrest following broncho-pneumonia, which resulted from a streptococcal infection, nothing at all to do with her taking the mephedrone – something the media chose to ignore. Instead campaigns to ban mephedrone are now in full swing, ignoring the glamour amongst young people of taking something illicit. If mephedrone is indeed made illegal in the future, I can only predict an increase in its use, with no sensible advice in place for those who take it.
As individuals, we have a choice: To be spoon-fed spin by the government and mainstream media or to effect change ourselves. The recently released British Social Attitudes Survey revealed that 58 per cent of people currently believe that cannabis should remain illegal, a 12 per cent increase from 2001. This, I believe is down to the increase in media aggression to drug-related issues. However, with Professor Nutt having created the Independent Scientific Council for Drug Harms (ISCDH) in January, free from political interference, there is a real chance for the tide to begin to turn, for reason and science to take precedence over misinformed social prejudice. Organisations such as Release, Transform and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) intend to work with the ISCDH so that together we can begin to influence the wider public and push for an evidence-based government drug policy in the interests of harm reduction.
At this Wednesday’s General Meeting (1.30pm) a motion is being put forward which calls for our Union to establish a harm reductionist approach to drugs: stocking ecstasy testing kits in our union, enforcing a ‘Good Samaritan’ policy for halls so that people can call emergency services in overdose situations without fear of eviction and expulsion and obliging our Campaigns Officer to campaign on drug policy – please come and vote.
