Responsible drug use
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The concept of responsible drug use is that a person can use illegal drugs, or illegally use legal drugs, with reduced or eliminated risk of negatively affecting other parts of one's life or the lives of others.
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[edit] Rules for Responsible Drug Use
Rules for responsible drug use, which applies to alcohol, tobacco, and medical products as much as to any other drugs, asserts that to use drugs responsibly one must adhere to the following principles[1]:
- Understanding and educating oneself on the effects and legal status of the drug being consumed
- Measuring accurate dosages and taking other precautions to reduce the risk of overdose
- Taking the time to chemically test all drugs being consumed to determine their purity and strength
- Not driving, operating heavy machinery, or otherwise being directly or indirectly responsible for the safety or care of another person while intoxicated
- Having a trip sitter when taking a drug with which one is not familiar; or which may radically alter a user's perception of the physical world, such as a strong hallucinogen
- Not attempting to trick or persuade anyone to use a drug they are not willing to use
- Not allowing drug use to overshadow other aspects of one's life
- Being morally conscious of the source of one's drugs
Duncan and Gold suggested that responsible drug use involves responsibility in three areas: situational responsibilities, health responsibilities, and safety-related responsibilities. Among situational responsibilities they included concerns over the possible situations in which drugs might be used legally. This includes the avoidance of hazardous situations, not using when alone, nor using due to coercion or when the use of drugs itself is the sole reason for use. Health responsibilities include avoidance of excessive doses or hazardous combinations of drugs, awareness of possible health consequences of drug use, and not using a drug recreationally during periods of excessive stress. Safety-related responsibilities include using the smallest dose necessary to achieve the desired effects, using only in relaxed settings with supportive companions, avoiding the use of drugs by injection, and not using drugs while performing complex tasks or those where the drug might impair one's ability to function safely.
Responsible drug use is emphasized as a primary prevention technique in harm-reduction drug policies. Harm-reduction policies were popularized in the late 1980s although they began in the 1970s counterculture where users were distributed cartoons explaining responsible drug use and consequences of irresponsible drug use.[2]
[edit] Criticisms
Critics believe that recreational drug use is inherently irresponsible (in that they view the possible drug use as outweighing any possible benefits, or that all drug use is a (fruitless) attempt to escape reality, or disapprove of illegal activities (drug use is illegal in many societies). These critics believe that drugs can therefore never be used 'responsibly'.[citation needed] One reason for this is that the unpredictable, unregulated nature of many illicit drugs carries inherent risks that might not be avoidable, even with great care, although proponents of responsible drug use would reply that these problems can be solved by legalization and regulation. Some types of drugs are very addictive, and even moderate use may result in a strong physical need for an increased dosage, with possible concomitant physical and social problems. While some people may be able to use some drugs for many years without serious consequences, others may have an unexpected reaction to the drug, even on first use. A single use of some illegal drugs, or legal drugs used illegally, may cause death or some other negative reaction, including a loss of control that may result in harm to others. Many critics consider it unrealistic to think that very many people will adhere to the principles of responsible use.[citation needed]
The stigmatized concept of a "recreational drug" does not feature in some societies. Members of the Rastafari movement, for example, use cannabis in religious rituals and some have no concept of it as a "recreational", much less "party", drug. Finally, some stigmatized and illegal recreational drugs are physiologically and psychologically safer than alcohol.
[edit] Illegality
Purity and potency of many drugs is difficult to assess as they are illegal, this may affect the ability to use them safely. Some people, therefore, argue that decriminalization of drug production and distribution could alleviate some of the most significant dangers of illegal drug use. The illegality of drugs in itself may also cause social and economic consequences for those using them. The morality of buying certain illegal drugs is also questioned given that the trade in cocaine, for instance, has been estimated to cause 3,000 deaths a year in Colombia alone. Some advocates for responsible drug use claim that the US government's war on drugs is responsible for these deaths, noting that pushing these drugs onto the black market inflates their value and potentially puts thousands of lives in danger.
[edit] Harm reduction
Harm reduction began as a philosophy in the 1980s aiming to minimize HIV transmission between intravenous drug users. It also focused on condom usage to prevent the transmission of HIV through sexual contact.
Harm reduction worked so effectively that researchers and community policy makers adapted the theory to other diseases to which drug users were susceptible, such as Hepatitis C.
Harm reduction seeks to minimize the harms that can occur through the use of various drugs, whether legal e.g. alcohol and nicotine, or illegal e.g. heroin and cocaine). For example, people who inject illicit drugs can minimize harm to both themselves and members of the community through proper injecting technique, using new needles and syringes each time, and through proper disposal of all injecting equipment.
Other harm reduction methods have been implemented with drugs such as crack cocaine. In some cities, peer health advocates (Weeks, 2006) have participated in passing out clean crack pipe mouthpiece tips to minimize the risk of Hepatitis A, B and C and HIV due to sharing pipes while lips and mouth contain open sores.
The responsible user therefore minimises the spread of blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV in the wider community.
[edit] Safe Injection Sites (SiS)
Safe injection sites operate under the premise of harm reduction by providing the injection drug user with a clean space and clean materials such as needles, sterile water, alcohol swabs, and other items used for safe injection.
Vancouver, British Columbia [3] opened a SiS called Insite in its poorest neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside. Insite was opened in 2003 and has dramatically reduced many harms associated with injection drug use. In fact, the research arm of the site, run by The Centre of Excellence for HIV/AIDS has found the following results[1]:
- SiS leads to increases in people entering detox and addiction treatment
- SiS hasn't led to more drug-related crime
- SiS has resulted in less litter of drug paraphernalia on the street
- SiS has reduced the number of people injecting in public
- SiS is attracting highest risk users
- SiS has led to less needle sharing in the community
- SiS encountered 453 overdoses and saved every single person
[edit] See also
- Addiction
- Counterfeit drug
- Entheogen
- Recreational drug use
- Straight edge
- Demand reduction
- Harm reduction
- Psychoactive drug
- Drug injection
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Duncan, D. F., and Gold, R. S. (1982). Chapter 18: Responsibilities of the recreational drug user. In: Drugs and the Whole Person. New York: Wiley. Available online at http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/duncanian_theory/ResponsibleDrugUse.html
- ^ This is cited on page 366 in The Sociology of American Drug Use by Charles E. Faupel, Alan M. Horowitz, Greg S. Weaver. published by McGraw Hill.
- ^ Vancouver Coastal Health (2007) http://www.vch.ca/sis/research.htm
Nicholson, T., & Duncan, D. (2002). Is recreational drug use normal? Journal of Substance Use, 7, 116-123. Available online at http://www.duncan-associates.com/Is-Recreational-Drug-Use-Normal.pdf
Weeks, M. (2006). The risk avoidance partnership: training active drug users as peer health advocates. Journal of Drug Issues(36)3: 541-570.
