Vast Majority Quit Illegal Drug Use On Their Own
Within First Year, Study Finds
By
Dr.Fourkan Ali
The data also revealed "that traumatic
childhood experience, mental illness and economic insecurity are more
significant predictors of substance abuse than availability of the drugs."
The Baker Institute
for Public Policy at Rice University compiled extensive data and organized them
in a collection of user-friendly tables, providing both treatment professionals
and the public an in-depth look at drug use in the United States. The Brian C.
Bennett Drug Charts deliver statistics mined from over 40 years of government
survey data, and present an accessible look at the evolution and nature of drug
use in the United States.
Researcher Brian
Bennett is credited with being the first to compile the data in
easy-to-understand charts. Since his original efforts, the Baker
Institute's Drug Policy Program has continued to update the charts. The
goal is to provide a reliable resource that traces usage patterns of individual
drugs over an extended period of time. In addition to usage, the charts also
highlight the abuse and dangers of the substances.
From alcohol and
marijuana to cocaine and methamphetamine, the charts downplay the drama by
presenting the stark facts of drug use nationwide over a substantial time
period. William Martin, director of the Drug Policy Program and Katharine
Neill, a drug policy expert at the Baker Institute, believe the data reveals how
the nation’s enforcement policies do not accurately reflect the reality of the
problem at hand.
The charts also
demonstrate that usage is not defined by the availability of drugs.
Rather—backing up the findings of Dr. Gabor Maté and other modern addiction
specialists—traumatic childhood experience, mental illness and economic
insecurity are more significant predictors of substance abuse.
The research
demonstrated that while some drug use results in significant physical and
criminal cost, other drugs are less dangerous. For example, harsh penalties for
psychoactive drugs like LSD and mushrooms are not backed up by the actual
potential for the abuse of these drugs. As Martin and Neill explain in their brief, Drugs by the Numbers: The Brian C.
Bennett Drug Charts:
"The Bennett
charts graphically illustrate the natural course of the use of psychoactive
drugs. Most people who ever use such drugs stop using them shortly after
initiation or a period of (usually brief) experimentation… This calls into
question policies that levy harsh penalties and apply indelible criminal
records to people for what may be experimental or incidental use likely to stop
on its own in the normal course of maturation. More rational and compassionate
responses exist and deserve close attention."
As a starting point,
the charts reveal the percentage of people 12 and older who have ever used a
given drug in their lifetime, in the past year, and in the last month. The
findings reveal that most people who have ever used drugs illegally stop using
on their own within the first year. After this initial period of
experimentation, many people do not continue regularly using illegal drugs, or
even ever again.
Such a trend questions
the extremity of enforcement actions taken in the name of the War on Drugs.
Since the rates of illegal drug use, according to this data, have been
consistent over the past 40 years, the War on Drugs is shown to be nothing more
than a sham. Beyond filling jails and prisons, the drug war has had almost no
effect on drug usage nationwide.
Moreover, despite
nationwide concerns over the "opioid epidemic" (also called into question by the charts), alcohol leads to greater
personal and societal damage than any other drug by far. In fact, a surprising
statistic that is consistent over the entire study period is that illegal drugs
comprise less than 20% of substance use disorders nationwide.
Finally, the belief
that marijuana is a "gateway drug" is confirmed to be nothing more
than a myth. Not only is marijuana not a gateway drug to harder substances, it
seems to not even be a gateway to more marijuana use. Although half of
respondents under 60 .
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