Drugs & Communities

Freedom to talk, freedom to listen

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
Jelaluddin Rumi

If we were to meet Rumi in this field where talk of wrong and right is not invited, could we bring up the subject of drugs? Is it even possible to talk about drugs without right and wrong in the mix? And, if so, how would the conversation go?

Imagining such a conversation is difficult, partly because of the way we’ve conditioned ourselves to think about drugs in a good-bad way. According to many drug education programs, media outlets and movie stars, there are right drugs and there are wrong drugs. According to some others, there are right times and ways to use drugs and wrong times and ways to use drugs. Different faiths, cultures and families all have their own take on the rights and wrongs of drug use.

And yet for all of our nodding about right and wrong, we still have a lot of problems related to alcohol and other drugs in our society. The World Health Organization identifies problematic alcohol use as the world’s third largest risk factor for disease and disability, causing more deaths worldwide than HIV/AIDS. Binge drinking is particularly risky and particularly common in underage youth and young adults. It’s associated with violence, sexual assault, crime, traffic accidents and other intentional and unintentional injuries (see http://www.bingedrinking.ca/). Most at risk are males aged 20-34, 45% of whom report heavy drinking at least monthly. But Vancouver police reports say the number of extremely intoxicated women on the town is on the rise as well.

Could it be that what’s in fact wrong is our focus? Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about what’s right and wrong about drugs but about what’s going on inside and among us instead. What would that do to our conversations?

If wrongdoing and rightdoing about drugs were off the table:

• We could talk more freely about our experiences. We could ask why, as a pregnant woman, I might secretly continue drinking. Why, as a senior, I might befriend my medicines. Why, as anyone, I might indulge in this or that.
• We could ask what it is about ourselves that makes alcohol and other drugs so appealing. As a young person, I could explore what alcohol and other drugs really do for me. As a busy adult, I could consider the stress, boredom or hopelessness I sometimes try to escape.
• We could take a meaningful look at what role alcohol and other drugs play in our lives, and what role we would like them to play, if at all. As a parent, I might be more mindful of the messages I send my kids through my use or non-use of alcohol and other drugs. I might even be able to discuss with neighbours and community members the place of alcohol and drugs in creating a happier society without either demonizing them or treating them as essential wonders.

Burdened by too much talk about wrongdoing and rightdoing, we have no freedom to really look at ourselves. But maybe that is what we most need.

For related resources, see:
You and Substance Use
Youth and Cannabis Use: A Parent's Guide