Reading – Drug Use in Australia: Preventing Harm

I started reading this book just before I had my clinical placement in the detox centre and have found it really interesting and well-written. These are the chapters that I've read through so far:
• Psychological theories of drug use and dependence
• The Social Context of Drug Use
• Alcohol and Aboriginal Society Heavy Drinking and Allied Responses
• Women and Drugs
• Adolescent Substance Abuse
• Addressing Drug Problems: the case for harm minimisation
• The problem with grand theories of drug use – this chapter was about how society tends to villainise and stereotype drug users as sinners, sick people and social victims. Furthermore, a drug user’s socioeconomic status and physical appearance will determine how society and the justice system view them. For example, users who come from poor families, are unemployed, need to commit crimes to pay for drugs, or have sores on their skin get labelled as “junkies”, whereas users who are well-heeled (think Matthew Newton, Kate Moss, Lindsey Lohan and Ben Cousins) are merely people who “have some issues with drugs/alcohol” or are “troubled” and “need some time off to get help and deal with their demons”. Because of their beautiful appearances, high profile jobs and bank balances they can avoid criminal convictions and harsh labels, and instead they go to rehab centres which are extremely expensive and inaccessible to the average person. Similarly, kids from the poor side of town who drink and take drugs in the park or at the train station get called “nuisances” and “delinquents” wasting their lives, whereas rich kids who drink and take drugs at parties in posh homes are “party animals” just having a good time and letting off steam at the weekend (after studying so hard during the week). The reality is that drug users come from all walks of life, and have different reasons for using drugs. Some are addicted or use excessively which seriously affects their lives and those around them in a negative way, while others are social users who do not have any problems. Some are physically addicted, while others are only psychologically addicted (ie. Their mind really wants it but they’re not getting the shakes or feeling sick if they don’t have it). Some use every day while others wait till the weekend then binge, and even those people are not necessarily addicts, just like people who go out drinking every weekend, or who have a glass of wine or two with dinner every night are not necessarily alcoholics. All in all, broad generalisations and being quick to judge is dangerous and counter-effective to fixing the problem.

I also read two books that I found in my school library:
• The Truth about Heroin Addiction and Treatment
• Alcoholism and the Family