The War On Drugs In The USA: The History Of Drugs And Approaches To Overcome Them

An aggravative solution to a vague problem

‘All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous qualities. It is only the dose which makes a thing poison’, Paracelsus The notion that drugs are bad is mostly true, however there are a lot of debates and fallacies that are perhaps oblivious to most people, and more importantly, the method used to handle issues caused by drugs is not really a fruitful one, if anything, it is creating more complications and is resulting in deterious outcomes. despite that, most governments still stick to prohibition and are being extremely strict on the policy of drugs, so what is it exactly about these substances? and what really makes them that infamous?

Drugs are substances that alter brain functioning, sedate, stimulate or cause other direct effects on the nervous system or certain chemicals in the brain, drugs could be natural or chemically synthesised. There are different types,forms and methods in which drugs are used. each drug varies on the impact they have on the user, as some of them when used regularely can cause addiction, dependance, health issues, negative side effects and could even result in death in some cases. while they sound that bad, some things need to be taken in consideration.

Precised History About Drugs In the United States

Marijuana

Marijuana was grown by the people of jamestown who settled there during the 1600s. during the civil war Marijuana furnished the state’s wealthiness from it’s yielding, at that time the growing of marijuana have massively expanded at the beginning of the 19th century, as It became a medical plant from 1850 to 1937 and was sold without regulations in pharmacies and regular stores. it was favoured and more demanded after alcohol became overly priced in 1920 . after almost 10 years, studies examined the marijuana use by low class citizens and claimed that it causes people to become mad and violent , which then resulted in marijuana being banned in 1937, there were a lot of other myths but they were recognized to be that later , and after that ,laws about marijuana criminalization were always shifting during the years. for example, in 1971 Marijuana was classified as a schedule I drug. but then at the beginning of the 21th century the criminalization dropped slowly when it has been accepted by the FDA for a lot of medical uses, and Today it is legal for recreational use in 9 states in the U.S.

Heroin And Cocaine

In 1806 A.C, a pharmacist named Freidrich Serturner discovered Morphine which is an ingredient found in the opium Poppy flower, The poppy plant itself was widely used far back in ancient times by sumeriyans who cultivated it at first and gave it the name ‘hul gil’ which means ‘the joy plant’. since morphine was the actual ingredient which gives that pain reducing effect in the flower, moprhine was very effective as both a sedative and a pain reliever, it was used a lot during the American Civil War. Times later, morphine’s dependance and high addictive nature became a problem and laws started restricting it’s use for non-medical settings.

LSD

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) is a psychedelic drug, an active ingredient found in ergot fungus, LSD was discovered and synthesised by swiss chemist Albert Hoffman at Sandoz laboratories in Basel,Switzerland 1938 , but for 5 years since the isolation and discovery of the substance, hoping it could be good blood circulation and a respiratory stimulation, while being tested on animals, hadn’t shown any promising results, it was not until the chemist tested it on himself by accident, Hoffman at that time never imagined that he would experience a remarkable, unforgivable dreamstate like and unpleasant glaring forms streaming of fantastic pictures of extraordinary shapes, intensly particoloured , he had just found a chemist gem and just after he headed home on a bycle while under effects of LSD, this is famously referred to ‘Bicycle Day’, attempting to answer just how a just a small drops of as molecule, size of that of the water’s, potentially create that powerful experience.

Reports from Hoffman about the experiment brought curiousity and interest to other researchers at Sandoz . They began experimenting on LSD, learning more about it’s effect and hoping to know if it could have any use in psychiatric setting. At a time the Lysergic acid was sold and marketed under the commercial name Delysid, at that time it became popular in psychiatric treatments and this drawn attention to the United States, that during the 1950s, medical researches in the U.S began taking place after the realization that LSD can induce similar effects of psychosis for a short period of time, in an attempt to be used a psychiatric modelling of some conditions.

Drugs In Media

However, in a lot of times they deliver false understandings and misconceptions about certain drugs that do not really negatvely affect behavior, overall health or have any serious risks or addiction, drugs like Marijuana,LSD and psylosibin for example are confimed to be safe and are even approved by the FDA for medical use purposes . but it could be that perhaps ideology in which that, anything as long as it affects brain health or even that which alters brain and affects the conscious state should be avoided. but even the hard drugs like meth and heroin are a bit missrepresented or exaggerated, but it is understood why they do that since their goal is to get people away from drugs in any way possible this is seen in some PSAs like Pill Poppers(1970), but a lot of times it is even seen in movies where drugs are presented but that has nothing to do with condemning drug use, now this is mostly caused by urban legends and old beliefs that came after the drug propaganda and some of them still survived till our day.

After president Richard Nixon announced ‘Drugs are public enemy number one’ In 1973, The Drug Enforcement agency was first established to combat drug use, Just a couple of years after, the Partnership for Drug-Free america then was founded , while being a non-governmental organization it served similar purposes, it differs from anti-drug campaigns but had similar methods and tactis,as it mostly relied on using advertisements with marketing strategies through public media broadcast particularily television, at that time most anti-drug PSAs weren’t fact checked and some were even myths, and were proven to be later on.

Catastrophes Of Drug Laws

Alternative Approaches

Portugal made a decision that no country before has ever thought or taken consideration of, while at the same time managed to open rehabitiliation centres there, just as many as usual grocery stores in a city without charging patients. Now drug addicts in this situation are more likely to turn for help if they know, they won’t be imprisoned. and just a decade later, the number of drug addicts was halved and death from overdoses dramastically dropped to 30 deaths per year. what Portugal proved to be best in than any other country, is that it focusing on treating the problem, not attack the sufferer, what drug addicts need is help and treatment not punishment, how is it that portugal managed to take a healthier and a more effective approach to the matter and all others failed and the price is irredeemable but if we keep on fueling this war what this going to result in is a revolution perhaps the biggest that history would witness. but it is time that we Homo Sapiens make another evolutionary leap towards a more advanced interpersonal communication. and this involves realization of individualistic values and rights, and that when we ever want to come close to being a Utopian society.

References

1. Donya Blaze M, ‘Celebs Who Died Of Drug Overdoses’

6. Leary,Timothy ,1955, ‘The Theory and Measurement Methodology of Interpersonal Communication’

7. McCabe, Lee M. , 1977 , ‘Psychedelic Drug Crises: Toxicity and Therapeutics’

12. Russo,Ethan B. ,2007, ‘History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet’

13. Tilley, John C., 2016 ,Overdose Fatality Report M, Office of Drug Control Policy, ‘Justice & Public Safety Cabinet’

18. FDA.gov , ‘Researching the Potential Medical Benefits and Risks of Marijuana’

19. ·Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, 2013, ‘Legality of Cannabis in United States of America and its implication on healthcare: A 6-year retrospective study