Altering States is a secondary newsletter that I run within We, The Citizens, focused on drugs and drug policy. It's irregular and always free. When you subscribe, you can choose either We, The Citizens or Altering States, or, better still, both!
My resolution to write a monthly Altering States wrap has not really come to pass. Some months, it doesn't feel like there's that much to say, and I don't want to crowd people's inboxes unless there's an issue of sufficient... if not chonkyness, at least a little bit of heft? (Yes, I kind of gauge the size of my newsletters the way I gauge the size of my cats.)
But this is a new year, and I've seen a few news stories, had a few exchanges, that have been making me think. So here we go!
The things we are afraid of
At the beginning of this month there was an article in The Straits Times saying that vape sellers have really set their sights on young people, targeting them with devices with Bluetooth connectivity that can play music or even link to social media. They look like cute funky gadgets, and might even encourage you to vape more. These devices could contain nicotine, or they could contain other substances.
Another article last week reported that two young people, likely first-time drug users, had died after consuming meth in January last year.
These are worrying things to hear about. I can imagine how much scarier it sounds to parents with young people to protect. It feels like there's so much danger out there, and that it's so easy for something to go wrong—a little bit of peer pressure, a little bit of secrecy, a little bit of temptation, and it could all go pear-shaped very quickly.
These fears are easy to prey on. It's easy to play on these anxieties to sell the idea that what we need to more police, more criminalisation, more punishment. I don't think most of the people who support the death penalty for drugs hold that position because they are violent, bloodthirsty people. I think they support the death penalty because they've been promised that it will protect them and the ones they love from all these terrible things out there.
The thing is, we're all afraid of the same things. Abolitionists and proponents of harm reduction (like me) are also afraid of children being preyed upon, people putting themselves in danger, overdose deaths. We don't want people to develop harmful, risky dependencies on substances. We don't want children to be lured in by syndicates looking to make a quick buck. We don't want people to lose their health, their relationships, their lives. We want to keep people safe, too.
Where we differ is how we want to approach and react to these fears. I've learnt over the years—from talking and listening to people, from learning from drug policy experts, from reading, from attending conferences and workshops—that lashing out with punishment doesn't work. The sorts of organised criminal syndicates with enough resources to push out shiny Bluetooth vapes aren't going to stop because vaping has been criminalised; they have their ways of circumventing the system, smuggling their products in, letting low-level mules and pushers take the fall when the police try to crack down. Deterrence doesn't work when there are desperate people who can be recruited to take the risks, when the real profiteers enjoy impunity out of reach of the law, when ongoing demand makes it oh-so-rewarding for a syndicate to ensure supply.
Instead, we should be clear-eyed about what we're actually up against, and the conditions that contribute to people ending up where they are, that create risk and danger. Why is there a demand for various substances, and which types or patterns of use do we really need to worry about? Not everyone who uses drugs develops dependency—why, then, do some people end up relying on drugs so much as a coping mechanism? What do they need help coping with? What can we do to change the conditions of their lives so that they can be supported to make different choices (if and when they are ready and willing to)?
An article on CNA this month highlighted that many Kpod users have simply moved into using prescription drugs instead. Technically, their cases will be considered by authorities like the Central Narcotics Bureau as 'successes'—they were using something illegal, they aren't anymore. But if what we really care about is personal well-being, then we see that there is no victory at all, simply a transfer from one substance to another. It's an indication that the pain is still there, that the need to cope is still there. If there are many people doing this, then it points to something about our society that we need to address—what is it about life here that creates the stress, pain, or trauma that might make people so desperate for escape? What's required is a broader, wider, more holistic view. Not punishment. If we can commit to working on these things together as a community, a society, we'll find that we will all be better off in the long run.
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