Alcohol and Other Drugs Opinion

Drugs and Alcohol Issues

Explain your opinion on the legalization of illicit drugs. Do you believe that legalizing drugs will "increase" or "decrease" drug abuse?

I think that some illicit recreational drugs should be legalized simply because they cannot be distinguished from licit recreational drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. Both tobacco and marijuana (for example) are leafy crops that can be harvested and smoked to provide various physiological sensations that users enjoy. Alcohol is a drug that does the same and that is also associated with various types of problematic behaviors. Whatever the "right" approach is, it cannot be to permit consumption of one substance like tobacco to be marketed for profit while subjecting consumers of another nearly identical substance like marijuana to criminal penalties. If it is appropriate to license the manufacture and tax the sale of tobacco, it is no less appropriate to do the same for marijuana. Meanwhile, behavior associated with drug consumption should be regulated as behavior, just as in the distinction made between drinking alcohol innocently and driving drunk or perpetrating other alcohol-fueled crimes.

I would expect the amount of drug "abuse" to remain constant because demand rather than legal status substantially influences consumption. In all likelihood, the illegal status of recreational drugs is not a significant deterrent to their use. Alcohol consumption remained relatively consistent when Prohibition was implemented in 1920 and did not increase tremendously after its repeal a decade later. The legal status of recreational drugs (and alcohol) merely determines who or what entities will profit from its sale. In my view, it makes more sense to regulate, tax, and restrict recreational drugs from minors than it does to perpetuate an expensive "war on drugs" that increases the cost of criminal justice, criminalizes benign behaviors, and creates a black market.

2) What do you think is the availability of drugs in high school? What drugs do you think are regularly available to high school students? In your opinion, do you think using drugs in high school (even experimenting) can have long-term negative affects on a person?

Depending on the community, I think tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are typically the most available drugs in many high schools. In some communities, methamphetamines are readily available. As far as the negative effects of experimenting with drugs in high school, I think it depends very much on the circumstances, although as a general rule, I would say it is probably not a good idea. Typically, drug use is just one of many symptoms of other problems such as alienation, rebellion, and delinquency. In those situations, drug use of any kind would be a bad thing. Certainly, heavy drug use of any kind is more dangerous in adolescence simply because the brain is not fully developed and the individual is not yet fully mature psychologically. Some of the brain changes associated with regular drug use and some of the behaviors and other tendencies associated with drug use can be harmful.

However, I do think that there are circumstances in which experimentation with certain recreational drugs, such as marijuana or alcohol, by high school students who are relatively well-adjusted and not responding to any impulse of rebellion or delinquency, may not necessarily be harmful. Many people do not wait until they are 21 before they try alcohol; and most of them probably never suffer any harm because of it. Other people start drinking regularly in high school and become alcoholic drop-outs. In my opinion, the difference has more to do with the person than with the choice to experiment.

3) Do you think "addiction is a disease"? Why or why not?

I believe that addiction is just a behavioral tendency (or a set of behavioral tendencies) that definitely have inherited components. On the other hand, I do not believe that addiction is a disease in the same sense as schizophrenia or multiple sclerosis. There are many factors in addiction. Some people can enjoy junk food, computer games, alcohol, and (probably) marijuana without necessarily becoming addicted. Meanwhile, other people become obese or obsessed with computer gaming or alcoholics. There appear to be genetic components to addictive behavior because it is often evident in different generations within families.

However, addiction is probably more of a dysfunctional behavior pattern and the product of various coping attempts of individuals through the wrong means. A person who discovers that drinking dulls the pain of some emotional issue may begin drinking more and more because of that reward. Another person may find emotional solace in eating sugary deserts or doughnuts. They may also exchange one addiction for another. But, in those cases, their addiction occurred as a specific result of the underlying issues and not because the person was necessarily afflicted with a disease of addiction. In many cases, addiction can even express itself over healthy behaviors, such as exercise. It may also fulfill some of the same subconscious needs as less healthy addictions. All of those types of addictions may have complex psychological and physiological components, but that does not necessarily mean that they are evidence of disease in the classic sense.

4) Which drug (drug classification) do you think has the most detrimental effect on the body's nervous system?

From my understanding, methamphetamines can be devastating to the neurological system. They alter the way that neurons communicate and the way that neurotransmitters are released and reabsorbed. Apparently, regular use of various kinds of amphetamines and other drugs such as MDMA or "ecstasy" can destroy the neurons that produce important mood-regulating neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. They can also interfere with the ability of neuron receptors to respond to those neurotransmitters the way they are supposed to. In the long-term, those kinds of physiological changes can be the cause of clinical depression because the brain and mood of the drug user is no longer capable of being regulated through the normal process of mood regulation.

5) FOUR LOKO is a drink comprised of 23 and a half ounces, with 12-percent alcohol and the caffeine equivalent of at least two cups of coffee. Energy drink consumption has been on the rise over the last 3-5 years. A number of deaths have been associated with energy drink consumption in otherwise healthy young adults. Combined with alcohol many young people are using these types of drinks to stay awake yet intoxicated. SB 39 aims to block the selling of caffeinated beer beverages in CA and is waiting to be signed by Governor Brown. What is your opinion on the safety of energy drink consumption?