The war on drugs is not a war fought on a traditional battlefront. It is an engagement that takes place in the life of every individual. The way to win this war is to effectively influence people not to use drugs. Since there is no way to strong-arm anyone into doing what is best for them, the next step to take is to present the facts about the situation in an accessible and upfront manner.
In this war we have words as weapons and propaganda is a good thing. Hundreds of thousands of euros have been spent by the Government to produce mass media campaigns with slogans designed to stick with children for the rest of their lives.
“Just say No”, “Dare to keep a kid off drugs”, and my personal favourite, “This is your brain… (egg)…This is your brain on drugs…(egg sizzling in a frying pan)” are just a few to come immediately to mind.
These public service messages are poured into public schools, libraries and commercials during peak cartoon watching times.
Getting the message across early before children even really understand what drugs are is a great strategy, and I can proudly proclaim that to date it has worked on my two adult sons.
We cannot keep drugs out of society but we can try our damnedest to keep society off drugs
Ideas and habits picked up from earliest childhood often take an exerted effort to go against. This is a message that is universally accepted by parents who might not agree on much else. No parent wants the heartbreak of losing a child to an accident involving drugs or a lifetime drug addiction.
In this war we have no secrets. In decades past, such uncomfortable topics as drug use were often avoided by families, let alone the public. This mindset is nothing short of folly. We need to talk openly and honestly about this issue. Groups like Narcotics Anonymous, Sedqa, Caritas and Appoġġ, and many other drug rehab/support groups, are full of people who are blessed to have an environment where they can tell it like it is.
The lure of drug use is nothing like the reality of drug use. People who use Meth lose their teeth, hair and strength. A life of “hard” living on drugs does not result in an attractive appearance. It also does not result in success, personal peace, prosperity or solid relationships. The truth about how many people die from overdose or car accidents needs to be spoken at every turn.
There should be no one who can claim that they honestly did not know drugs were harmful. There should be no topic off limits involving the world of drugs to reveal the truth about how horrible they are.
In this war we have an inanimate object for an enemy. We do not need to blast the people who are hooked on drugs, or even the evil dealers and harvesters that make the stuff available in the first place. We need to look at the substances, the harm it can cause, how that damage is inflicted, and how we can put a stop it. We cannot keep drugs out of society, but we can try our damnedest to keep society off drugs.
The best way I see to do this is to vilify drugs in the same way advertisers promote products and make them appealing. Maltese have no problem buying the line of bunk that they read in magazines and see on TV. Advertising really does influence what we want and how we spend, or it would not be such a successful industry.
Drugs need to be shown in an unflattering light on every TV show, film, book, website, and other media that people encounter in their everyday lives. This reverse advertising will leave a bad taste in most people’s mouths. It might even be the difference between whether they choose to experiment with drugs or not.
The war on drugs is won a single victory at a time, when one person has chosen not to approach or to turn away from touching what they have been taught to avoid.
Mark Said is a government-employed senior legal counsel.