Tuesday, October 15, 1996
DRUGS:
Controlled substances perilous, regardless of legalityBy Sami
Kohan
The recent article on legalizing drugs ("Immoral leadership core
of national problems," Oct. 10) carries several distortions and
omissions which need correction. Miranda suggests that we ought to
legalize drugs on the grounds that Americans ought to have the
right to do as they please and that the current concern over drug
use is irrational.
While he is correct on the first count, he grossly misrepresents
the facts surrounding the the effects of drug use. For example, he
writes "The number of Americans aged 6-17 who die of illegal drug
use is reported to be about 100 a year." Of course, there are only
a few deaths in this age group. How many kids did you know in 8th
grade who freebased cocaine? How many did you know that drank
alcohol or smoked pot?
Most drugs which can result in overdose deaths (e.g. cocaine,
crack, heroine, etc.) are not popular among high school crowds.
Miranda does not cite how many 20- or 30-year-olds die from drug
overdoses. He does suggest that we check the "Annual Medical
Examiner Data" and the "Drug Abuse Warning Network" to verify his
data which I did. I found the network on the internet where the
data shows that 70 percent of cocaine emergencies were for people
ages 26-34.
Most importantly, death is a poor measure of the effects of drug
use.
Many of the readers of this article have known people who have
destroyed years of their lives because of substance abuse.
Emergency room statistics do not record the screwed up
relationships, the rapes, the poor motivation, the poor work habits
and subsequent unemployment that can result from drug abuse.
People whose brains have been damaged from repeated exposure to
hallucinogens do not turn up in fatality charts.
Nor do people who have psychotic episodes from repeated exposure
to mood-altering drugs or the people who can’t get off their asses
because they spent every day of the last 10 years smoking joints.
Perhaps, drug laws ought to be liberalized because of their
repressive nature and the fact that not everyone who uses drugs
ends up abusing them, but let us not kid ourselves about the costs
that would be incurred from increased drug use.
As with most things in life, the situation is not as cut and dry
as Miranda suggests.
Sami Kohan is a fourth-year student of cell and molecular
biology.