The director of the federal government\u2019s top agency on drugs and health says ending harsh penalties around use would reduce harm and facilitate access to treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocietal norms surrounding drug use and addiction continue to be informed by myths and misconceptions,\u201d Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), wrote in an opinion piece for the health news website STAT last week. \u201cAmong the most harmful of these is the scientifically unfounded belief that compulsive drug-taking by individuals with addiction reflects deliberate antisocial or deviant choices. This belief contributes to the continued criminalization of drug use and addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nNIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow shares how punitive policies around drugs contribute to the overwhelming #stigma<\/a> against people with #addiction<\/a>, in @statnews<\/a> and on her blog. In English and Spanish:https:\/\/t.co\/4Q3m4FubNZ<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 NIDAnews (@NIDAnews) August 9, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\u201cMany people intersect with the criminal justice system as a direct or indirect result of their substance use disorders, and the experience may worsen their addiction and their physical and mental health,\u201d Volkow writes<\/a>. \u201cImprisonment itself not only increases the likelihood of dying prematurely but also negatively impacts mental health and social adjustment via the stigma of having been incarcerated. And it has radiating effects: Incarceration of a parent increases their children\u2019s risk of drug use, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NIDA official\u2019s column further argues that stigma caused by criminalization and prejudice against drug users have \u201cmajor negative impacts on health and well-being,\u201d which \u201chelps explain why only 18 percent of people with drug use disorders receive treatment for their addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile attitudes around drug use, particularly use of substances like cannabis, have significantly changed in recent decades, the use and possession of most drugs continue to be penalized,\u201d she writes. \u201cPunitive policies around drugs mark people who use them as criminals, and so contribute to the overwhelming stigma against people contending with an often debilitating and sometimes fatal disorder\u2014and even against the medical treatments that can effectively address it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThey are often treated in a demeaning and dehumanizing way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The fear of criminal consequences\u2014or even the perception of stigma\u2014\u201dreduces the quality of care\u201d people who need treatment can receive and leads to other health effects when they conceal their use from health care professionals, the top federal drug official wrote. Those same factors also prevent people who use drugs from participating in public conversations about how to effectively address substance misuse problems.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cBut while a growing number of people in recovery are speaking openly about their past use and their current struggles to keep sober, people who use drugs actively\u2014either because of an untreated addiction or during a period of relapse or even simply as a matter of personal choice outside the context of a use disorder\u2014are not free to do so without fear of legal consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn effective public health response to substance use and substance use disorders must consider the policy landscape of criminalizing substance use,\u201d she argues, \u201cwhich constitutes a major socially sanctioned form of stigma.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Volkow has expressed similar sentiments in the past, publishing\u00a0another essay critical of the drug war in May<\/a> in the journal Health Affairs. While she doesn\u2019t explicitly endorse decriminalization or legalization of drugs in the new piece, titled \u201cPunishing Drug Use Heightens the Stigma of Addiction,\u201d<\/a> it\u2019s among among her sharpest indictments yet of the drug war\u2014notable given that NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, is widely seen as a key piece of the nation\u2019s drug-control apparatus.<\/p>\n
Going forward, the official says that \u201cresearch on the positive and possible negative outcomes associated with alternative policy models that move to prioritize treatment over punishment are also urgently needed, as such models could remove a major linchpin of the stigma around drug use and addiction and improve the health of millions of Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volkow has received pressure from advocates to publicly discount the war on drugs as a failure, with the group NORML urging her last year to declare that criminalization causes more harm than marijuana itself<\/a>.<\/p>\n
But Volkow has also acknowledged that cannabis can carry risks. Last year, she told a congressional panel that legalization could bring benefits but also raise concerns. She described it as \u201can area where there\u2019s been major changes in the perception of the American public that we have a drug that is benign and, as a result of that, we\u2019re seeing a very dramatic increase in the number of people that are consuming marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, Volkow stressed to members of Congress that prohibition carries its own concerns, particularly around racial justice<\/a>. \u201cAbundant data show that Black people and other communities of color have been disproportionately harmed by decades of addressing drug use as a crime rather than as a matter of public health,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At last month\u2019s hearing Volkow also responded to a question from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on the need to investigate the impact of \u201chigh concentrations of THC on people with perhaps mental health challenges or on the developing juvenile brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you agree that it\u2019s important before we legalize marijuana at the federal level\u2014should Congress decide to do so that\u2014we get this kind of research performed so we actually know what we\u2019re doing?\u201d he asked, implicitly recognizing that efforts to end federal cannabis prohibition are gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s 100 percent necessary that we actually have an understanding of the consequences of legalizing marijuana are going to have into the children and adolescent brain and what are the consequences,\u201d Volkow replied. \u201cWe owe it to the public to actually provide that information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSenate Votes To Let Researchers Study Marijuana From Dispensaries<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The post Top Federal Drug Official Says Criminalization Creates Stigma And Harms Health Of Consumers<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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