A Lifestyle Choice?

I notice that my recent piece on the failure of the war on drugs has generated quite a bit of traffic due to it being commented on by 'Bystander' here on the Magistrates Blog. What a shame then that the whole piece didn't get published due to the poor software on Blogger. Not for the first time have I discovered to my horror that all the carefully crafted text I've sweated hours over had not been 'saved' at all, but arbitrarily thrown away instead. It seems to happen when you import text and is very annoying to say the least. I now regret the decision to publish half finished, but I just couldn't face trying to do it all again, so apologies if the piece just seems to end mid flow. I'm afraid it does and I will try and make amends here.

The following comment over on the Magistrates blog particularly struck me

"Useage of drugs is not an illness it's a lifestyle choice and a bad one at that."

In response I would say that it may well be a lifestyle choice for the middle classes in good jobs or the professions. I've always suspected that heroin and cocaine use amongst the medical and legal profession is quite common and in fact featured in a recent episode of the BBC court drama 'Silk'. But such people never come our way because they don't have to commit crime in order to fund their useage. No doubt most lead normal well-balanced lives and their use of drugs probably goes completely unnoticed. Although their 'lifestyle choice' can be said to be under control, unproblematic and in all probability enjoyable, it is of course illegal. Apart from this, why is it such a bad choice as opposed to say alcohol? 

This brings me on to the rest of the drug-using population, many of whom are our customers. I would defy anyone to describe their wretched existence as a reflection of a 'lifestyle choice'. Some are driven to inject direct into their head because there is no viable vein left for the purpose. Often disabled by deep vein thrombosis, some with amputations, they have very short lifespans but seem to die almost completely unnoticed by wider society. They will have been held in a vice-like grip by the physical addiction for many years and regular efforts to 'come off' will have been thwarted by being constantly surrounded by other drug users. Such people have to 'deal' with each other in order to fund their own habit and therefore it's not in their interests if people stop 'using'.

I simply don't accept this group ever made a 'lifestyle choice' about using drugs. Typically they have grown up in a drug-riddled, broken society where 'choice' about anything is a completely alien concept. It would be far more relevant here to talk in terms of survival. To be honest I think 'choice' is just a middle class concept. It wasn't always like this though. In the early days of increasing heroin useage, I could refer clients to the Regional Drug Addiction Unit where there was in-patient and out-patient treatment available. Clients could make a meaningful choice about trying to get 'clean'. The facility was run by the NHS because quite rightly it was regarded as a health issue, just like all other addictions whether they be gambling, sex or alcohol. It was a huge mistake to steer drug addiction away from the health sector.      

Nowadays in the absence of residential detoxification beds, prison is often seen as the only way to try and kick the habit. It can be achieved with the right mindset, co-operative padmate and drug free wing, but most unusual given the widespread availability of drugs in virtually every jail. It is a sad truism that many prisoners have their first experience of drugs in prison. 

Now just in case there might be people out there who think more effort needs to be put into stopping drugs getting into prison, may I confirm that this is just as pointless as every other bit of the so-called 'war on drugs'. Let me just say that the vast sums of money that is to be made by staff and inmates smuggling drugs into prison easily ensures that any and every counter-measure that can be installed will be circumvented. As with all elements of the present illegal drug supply network, any cost benefit analysis easily makes the risk of apprehension worth taking.

It is sheer madness to think that throwing more resources at 'law enforcement' will work, not least because, guess why? The money to be made is so vast that even law enforcement officers are not immune to the temptations on offer. Like it or not, common sense will eventually prevail and Daily Mail readers will just have to get used to the idea.