PDF (Lessons learned in drug abuse prevention: a global review)

2. A case for drug abuse prevention
2.1 The Problem of Drug Abuse
"Drugs destroy lives and communities, undermine sustainable human development
and generate crime. Drugs affect all sectors of society in all countries; in particular,
drug abuse affects the freedom and development of young people, the world's most
valuable asset. Drugs are a grave threat to the health and well-being of all mankind,
the independence of States, democracy, the stability of nations, the structure of all
societies, and the dignity and hope of millions of people and their families." 1
2.1.1 Reasons for drug abuse among young people
In this report, the term 'drugs' embraces not only substances classified under international
law as illicit drugs, but refers also to tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs and
other potentially harmful substances which are used for non-medical purposes. The
term 'abuse' has been chosen to indicate the use of a drug by an individual or a group
of people to the extent that it is resulting in problematic behaviour and likely to cause
harm to the user and to the society in which they function. 'Abuse' implies that drugtaking
behaviour at this level can result in severe mental and physical ill-health for the
individual. In addition, abuse has a considerable impact at the societal level on crime,
social disintegration and the costs incurred by health and social welfare systems.
'Misuse' is an alternative term for ‘abuse’, and describes the same behaviour pattern. 2
Whilst deciding to experiment with a psychoactive substance is usually a personal
decision, developing dependence after repeated use is, largely, neither a conscious and
informed decision by the individual nor the result of a moral weakness. Rather, it is the
outcome of a complex combination of genetic, physiological and environmental factors.
It is very difficult to pinpoint exactly when a person becomes dependent on a
substance (regardless of its legal status). There is evidence that dependence is not a
clearly demarcated phenomenon, but rather that it manifests itself along a continuum
ranging from early problems without significant dependence to severe dependence
with physical, mental and socio-economic consequences. 3
Drug use or abuse by an individual or by a group of people is rarely caused by a single
factor. Instead, the interplay between a multitude of individual, social and environmental
conditions and factors that put an individual at risk of using or abusing drugs
is constantly changing, and will vary from community to community and from individual
to individual. For instance, the type of drug used by an individual or a group of people
will depend on the availability, price and accessibility of particular drugs. The social setting
and social group and context in which an individual functions in, as well as the
economic determinants play a part in patterns of drug use and abuse. In addition,
different types of substances generate different psychological and physiological stimulation
and have effects on the user of varying duration and intensity. The choice to use,
which can lead to abuse, of a particular substance is influenced by all these complex
and inter-linked factors.
Identification of the nature and type of drug use and abuse in a community or amongst
a certain target group should precede and inform any drug abuse prevention
intervention. Research has indicated the existence both of general factors that increase
people's risk of abusing drugs, and of factors that act protectively. The reliance on information
and media campaigns to prevent drug abuse has been shown to be insufficient
“Drug use or abuse
by an individual or by a
group of people is
rarely caused by a single
factor.”
1
Special Session of the General Assembly Devoted to Countering the World Drug Problem Together, 8-10 June
1998: Political Declaration; Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction; and Measures to Enhance
International Cooperation to Counter the World Drug Problem. 2 UNODCCP. 2000. ODCCP Studies on Drugs and
Crime. Guidelines. Demand Reduction: A Glossary of Terms. New York.
3
WHO. 2001. The World Health Report 2001. Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope. Geneva.
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