For a recovering alcoholic, it may seem the temptation to drink is overwhelming and ubiquitous. Alcohol can even be considered normative to the point that people who abstain are considered deviant. As Knapp points out in Chapter 16 of Drinking: A Love Story, recovery is a daily, sometimes hourly struggle as she longs to drink even while she yearns for healing. Her healing process might seem easier with temptation kept at bay, but one of the most salient points of Drinking is that an addiction can migrate as a person shifts from one compulsion to another without resolving the underlying psychological trauma. If not alcohol, it could be something legal like prescription drugs or sniffing glue. Criminalization does not prevent addiction; it only pushes it underground and makes it much harder for people to heal, to be open with their problems, and to build resilience.

When Knapp goes so far as to wish she lived in a dry society, or half-jokes about wanting a return to Prohibition, she would probably extend her argument to cover other drugs. Yet Prohibition failed miserably for good reason; using the law to criminalize mind-altering substances does not address the multifaceted underlying social and psychological problems that Knapp herself unveils through her memoirs. Criminalization is one of the worst possible responses to addiction because it just diverts psychological problems to the criminal justice system, with terrible consequences for disadvantaged populations. Few would argue that Prohibition is a good idea, or that countries in which alcohol is banned, like Iran, have more sensible public health policies than the United States.

Certainly, the social acceptability of alcohol makes it harder for a recovering alcoholic to resist. Alcohol is every bit as dangerous than most other drugs, and is even more dangerous than some like cannabis. From her perspective, and from others like her, legalization of all recreational drugs would seem like a public health menace. Considering Knapp’s point of view is important, but it is even more important to put into practice sensible, feasible, and evidence-based policies.

References

Knapp, C. (2005). Drinking: A Love Story. New York: Random House.