We can win as one

In 1839, selling drugs on Chinese soil was a crime, as is the case in most parts of the world today. That was a period when there existed a huge and growing demand for Asian goods in Europe and the west. The Europeans paid for these goods with silver. And since there were no European goods that the Chinese were interested in, the flow of hard currency was steadily towards Asia. The British did not produce enough silver of their own and had to buy it from other countries, pushing the transaction costs even higher. So, they set out to even out the demand imbalance by creating demand for a product – Opium. What the world witnessed, as a result, was a bloody and fearsome war called ‘The opium wars’.

In the early ‘70s, the world was familiarized with the term ‘War on Drugs’. Popularized by the Nixon government, this was the culmination of several anti-narcotics efforts the beginning of which can be traced back to as early as 1914. The idea was to put a system in place that curbed the use of psychoactive drugs. In 2008, a whopping 1.5 million Americans were apprehended for drug related offenses. One third of these were sentenced and jailed. Whether the government achieved its goal or not is a matter of debate. But their accomplishments are commendable. And other countries around the world have also begun similar programs.

Any government initiative is not complete until the citizens partake in it wholeheartedly. The ultimate success of these endeavors lies in spreading awareness among the common people about the downsides of drug abuse. Science has progressed enough today to explain the working of drugs and designing effective drug treatment programs. There are several measures that we as individuals could take in order to launch our own personal wars against this menace.

Firstly, we must say no to these drugs ourselves. We must tell ourselves that our lives are precious and it is not worth wasting on a false sense of bliss that lasts only till it does. If we know we are already hooked on, now is the time to ask for help and decide to quit the habit. When we know of someone affected, it is our responsibility to help them, counsel them and coerce them to join a treatment programs. Last but not the least, we must remove from the society’s psyche that resorting to drugs is an easy way to achieve happiness and instill the confidence that we can win as one.