Joshua Aspiring Journalist

The United Kingdom’s drug misuse rates keep getting worse. According to the Office of National Statistics in March 2020, drug misuse rates increased drastically 17% compared to March 2013. With drugs becoming a bigger and bigger problem, throughout the world, is there truly any way to cure this global pandemic?

Drugs can be seen all over the United Kingdom, with roughly 1 million people aged 16 to 24 reported using drugs in just England and Wales according to the Office of National Statistics. To be more specific, the Alpine Recovery Lodge has found that young men are the most likely to abuse drugs. There are plenty of reasons why young people may turn to drugs in the UK, for example: calming, boredom, peer pressure, misinformation or even rebellion.

A drug abuser could die from their drug misuse in serious cases. A person who takes drugs could also find themselves in prison or at least with a fine, ruining their criminal record and their chances of employment. If a convict finds themselves unemployed they may turn to a life of crime, taking them in a long cycle of crime and imprisonment. A person may also find themselves out of money to afford the drugs.

Although drug crime affects the user the most, it may also affect friends and families. Friends and families may feel as if they could have done something to prevent the drug abuse, heavily guilting them. Bonds may also break between the user’s friends and family.

Many countries try to tackle their drug problems, with varied outcomes, for example, Portugal and Oregon are two countries that both legalised drugs, but reached different end-products.  

Portugal decreased to an average of 80 deaths related to overdoses according to National Public Radio, while on average, 1080 people die of an overdose yearly in Oregon according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. It is debated why Oregon couldnt decrease their overdose rate to the same level that portugal did, but the most likely case is that it is because of different cultures.

There are countless treatments for drug use, the most commonly used is behavioral therapies (a range of therapies that are designed to change a persons responses and reactions to a situation, and as the name says, changing the behavior.) In some cases this works better than a prison sentence.

I believe that prison sentences should be decreased for drug users to allow for longer rehabilitation and further treatment of the drug user. An addiction can not be remedied by punishing but by treating.