A drug-free America by 1995 was the slogan championed by Congress in 1988.

That date has

long since passed and it is clear that America is nowhere near being drug-free. In fact, one can
set any arbitrary date and proclaim to set a goal of a drug-free America by then, but with no
chance of ever reaching that goal. Perhaps this is why drug policy in the United States has failed
miserably over the course of time: it focuses too much on zero tolerance and the expectation that
drug abuse and drug use can be stopped completely. The fact of the matter is that this is a
completely unrealistic expectation in that as long as drugs are around there will be those
members of the population who choose to use them. Rather than make this relatively large
segment of the population all criminals, which leads to more problems than it actually solves,
drug policy should focus on minimizing and reducing the harm that this drug use cause to both
the individual and society at large. As an example, one can consider the opiate abuse by certain
members of the population, specifically the inner-city youth members belonging what is known
as the Screw subculture who abuse codeine-containing cough syrups. With the way policy is
now, all of these youths are considered criminals and they have no avenues for help or treatment
should they want to seek it. As with all opiates, there is a large amount of danger in this drug
abuse in that overdosing is an all too common occurrence. Additionally, most members of this
population combine this drug with other drugs and are completely ignorant of the extremely
dangerous affects that certain combinations have. Clearly, some type of program needs to be
implanted that assesses the harm imposed to those individuals who choose to use these drugs and
the harm that they may cause to society. Based off this assessment, drug policy changes need to
be made that, instead of criminalizing every member of this rather large portion of the
population, reduces this harm and allows for members of this population to be educated in both
the drug and all routes for treatment that are available to them. If no treatment options are
available currently, then the new drug policy should establish new, effective ones to help in this
harm reduction approach. This paper seeks to explore and detail those options, outline the pros
and cons of each, and then choose which ever one seems to be the best alternative to current
policy.
Drug Education
Since the majority of the members of this Screw subculture are inner-city youths, it
would make sense to implement a new type of drug education in the school systems. Even those
not involved in this particular culture would benefit, as the majority of those who choose use
drugs are first introduced to them in some form as early as middle school. While there are
already a vast multitude of these education programs, many are ineffective in that they are biased
toward drug use prevention with abstinence as the only acceptable goal of the program. In
addition, many of these programs are flawed in that they only provide input from the teachers or
other officials who are leading the classroom and allow no room for discussion from the
students. Even those courses that do are ineffective as many students are fearful of shedding light
on their sometimes vast knowledge of the drug subject in question. They are afraid of the
repercussions that could arise should a teacher or other school official become aware of their
drug habits based on their in depth knowledge of the drug and any usage habits that may occur
with it.
The new drug education programs that would be implemented in harm minimization drug
policy would address these issues. First, in terms of the abstinence bias that many of these
programs have, D.A.R.E. being a specific example, these new education programs will be
focused on providing the facts about drugs in a strictly neutral context. Scare tactics will no
longer be used to try and dissuade the youth from using drugs. Not only has this been proven to
be ineffective, but it seems to have an adverse effect. Those who actually do try the drugs they
learned about and find they are not, initially at least, as bad as they have been made out to be will
question the rest of the lessons they learned in these programs. Some will go so far as to
completely throw out everything taught to them, even if there is some truth to the drug education
programs curriculum. In the newly reformatted drug education courses, students will learn
exactly how each drug affects the body in both the short and long term and the sometimes
addictive nature of drugs. For the specific example of the Screw subculture, students would be
advised that, although their drug of choice is just a cough syrup it still contains a highly
addictive opiate and extended use of this cough syrup will lead to addiction. Because of this
addictive nature, in addition to the neutral drug facts provided by these courses, treatment
information regarding addiction to these types of drugs would be provided such that any student
seeking help for a drug problem would be able receive it without fear of any negative
repercussions. Students should be rewarded for wanting to seek help, not punished.
Again citing the Screw subculture as a specific example, many drug users face a
dangerous path for drugs such as the opiates have a high risk of death by overdose. Many of
these overdoses are accidental as those who choose to use drugs illegally are ignorant of the
correct dosage procedures. The current state of drug education does not address this issue since
most refuse to acknowledge drug use as acceptable. In the eyes of these current policies, advising
students on how not to overdose would condone drug use, which is completely unacceptable.
The fact is that regardless of current drug policy, there will always be those who decide to use
drugs recreationally. By not acknowledging this fact and not providing information on
responsible drug use, these programs do nothing to address the risk that many of these youths
put themselves in. In the new harm reduction drug education programs, students would be
educated in this topic. They would be informed what a good dose of the drug is such that these
overdoses are minimized. Drug overdose recognition training would also be provided so that, if
an overdose were to occur, students would know how to recognize the signs of such an
occurrence and what steps to take to save the victims life. Additionally, at least in the case of the
Screw subculture, many of those who use drugs recreationally combine them with others as a
way to intensify the high the drugs provide; in doing so however, users put themselves at an
increased risk of overdosing or other physical harm. The harm reduction based drug education
programs would also address this issue. Students in the classroom would be educated on the
increased risk factors associated with these drug combinations and they would be taught which
combinations are the most dangerous.
In addition to all this, discussion about the drugs and the cultural factors that influence
their use and abuse should be encouraged between the students and the course teacher. The
students should be made aware that nothing they say can get them into trouble such that a true
discussion may ensue. The goal of this discussion is to ensure that the students understand
everything that is being presented to them in these drug education courses such that they can
make responsible decisions about drug use. They should also begin to think about the cultural
and sociological factors that contribute to their decision whether or not to begin using the drugs
recreationally. They need to understand that drug use is nothing to take lightly and must be
aware of all the risks that they put themselves through should they choose to participate in the
recreational drug use.
Treatment
Another important aspect of a new harm reduction approach to drug policy is the
availability of treatment for drug addiction.
(Other Considerations)
With the current drug policy, many recreational drug users are forced to the black market to
obtain their drug supply. One of the major issues with this black market supply is the quality and
purity of the drugs being bought and sold. Profit is an extreme motivator and in order to
maximize it, drug dealers will do whatever it takes to stretch their supply and get as much out of
it as they can. Usually, this results in cut product with other drugs or chemicals that can be more
harmful than the drug itself. Also stemming from this issue of cut drugs is the purity of the drug
in question. Since there are no regu