The facts about drugs

I have now been commissioned by my publisher to write a second book, this time on drug counselling. I am currently writing about how it is important for the drug counsellor to have the facts about drug use. Whilst this seems like a fairly simple and rudimentary task it is surprisingly difficult.

One reason for this is that drugs are inevitably a political issue and that means governments will present the facts on drugs in a way which suits their current political need. This extends to the official health information on drugs. Most commonly they tell the truth but they don’t tell the whole truth.



The following comes from a website of the Government of Western Australia - Drug and Alcohol Office.

It provides variety of information including the possible effects of various drugs. Below is what it presents as the list of the possible effects of cannabis. This list is what one usually finds in government presented facts on cannabis. It is presented in this order in the website.

loss of concentration
impaired balance
loss of inhibitions
reduced coordination
feeling of wellbeing
increased heart rate
reddened eyes
increased appetite
talkativeness
tunnel awareness - where a person focuses their awareness on one thing
confusion
restlessness
detachment from reality
excitement
hallucinations
anxiety
panic attacks
respiratory problems
mental health problems in those who are vulnerable
bronchitis
lung cancer
decreased concentration
decreased memory and learning abilities
dependence
interference with sexual drive and hormone production
mental health problems in those who are vulnerable



This list presents the effects of cannabis as a very undesirable thing. If this list was accurate who would ever spend their hard earned money to get such effects. Who would ever voluntarily engage in an illegal activity to get such effects. Yet one third of the entire adult population of Australia has done precisely that, engaged in the illegal activity of smoking marijuana. It cannot be as bad as this list suggests.

It does not present the true picture even though it does include all the facts. Yet they are presented in such a way to give a misleading picture and hence my point that drug counsellors can find it hard to get the true picture on the facts about drugs. This list has a political agenda behind it because drugs as I said before are always a political issue.

The reason why so many people have used marijuana is because of effect number five - feeling of wellbeing. The way it is stated and how it is hidden in the list gives a false picture of the effects.



If they were going to give a true picture of the effects of cannabis at the top of the list they would say - The vast majority of users will get the effect where the cannabis makes them feel really, really, really good. Clearly this is very different from it being included as the fifth effect and simply put as, a feeling of well being.

A government website could never be so candid because there would be an outcry from various groups saying such a statement encourages cannabis use. That may or may not be true. However the point at hand is this demonstrates how hard it is to get the true picture on the facts of drugs. Those engaged in drug counselling have to negotiate the various political agendas on both sides of the fence to get accurate information which obviously the drug counsellor must have.

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