The lure of drugs is obvious. We live in a society in which there is a 
phenomenal gap between a few elite personalities and the rest of the population. In adverts, these personalities inform us of the secrets to their success. We buy into their promises, but find only disappointment.
Most of us will live a life of routine and anonymity, forgotten just a few years after we die. For the most part, life is dull and repetitive. For most of us, the dream job offer will be something we struggle hard to attain, if, indeed, we ever work out what our dream job would actually be. As students in Manchester, each of us is just one in about 40,000. In this context, finding meaning, purpose, and a place in society present real challenges, and without achieving these, self-esteem is hard to come by.
Drugs offer us a path into an alternative reality, altering our perception of the world, and allowing us to experience it in new and fascinating ways. Colours appear brighter, music seems more vibrant, tastes play on the taste bud, more delicious, more exciting than before. For a few brief moments, the world revolves around you, and everything in it is there specifically for your enjoyment. When high, the mundane nature of every day life dissipates, and a new world, a world in which anything is possible, opens itself up to us. On coke you become the most interesting person in the room. On dope you become a deep, profound thinker. On pills, everyone is your friend.
But guess what – it’s not real! It lasts for no more than a few hours, and then it fades. After that, all you’re left with is the drudgery of some dingy room. On your desk is a tray full of ash and cigarette ends. A box of half-eaten pizza lies on the floor. The music, which just half an hour ago seemed to reach out to the innermost depths of your soul, is now just a dull noise in the background. It’s a few hours until you have to be out of bed and in your first lecture. And this is what you paid out your last few quid for.
What price are you prepared to pay for this life? Are those moments really worth the risks associated with drug use? I know that the users out there will, even as they read this sentence, be repeating their usual refrain – drugs never did them any harm, no one they know went crazy, even the Government’s own drugs advisor admits they’re safe. Yeah? Go tell that to one of the thousands of young people currently recuperating in mental hospitals across the UK after abusing cannabis or ecstasy, or go tell that to parents who have lost their children to drug overdoses.
The fact of the matter is a vast body of evidence suggests that, while alcohol and nicotine may be two of the most dangerous drugs, other drugs also carry significant risks. Psychedelic drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy certainly are associated with an increased risk of psychosis. Alcohol and nicotine are known to cause a wide range of diseases in the long-run. Hard drugs carry a high risk of overdose. Given the risks involved, it is in the best interests of society as a whole that we curb the use of all drugs.
Portugal has seen vast reductions in drug use recently and it is often argued that this is due to legalisation. I would argue, however, that legalisation is not the key to the successes seen in Portugal. Far more important is the emphasis placed by the Portugese system on rehabilitation. Drug users are victims of the social conditions in which they find themselves. Reducing drug use means helping users to deal more effectively with those conditions. Ultimately, however, if we wish to solve the problem of drug use in any meaningful way, it is necessary to understand and to address those conditions directly.
