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August 6, 2004

A Vaccine for Inhibition

Although the interior link leads to paid-registration content, Michelle Malkin's summary in a post about vaccinating children caught my eye:

On a related note, I was quite interested in this story about a scheme being considered in Britain to mandate vaccination of children against future drug addiction. The vaccines are currently under development; they are expected to become available in two years, at which point they could be required.

This scheme has the too-sweet smell of an idea that is sure to have unintended consequences — a seemingly good-hearted "initiative" that winds up having the opposite effect than intended. As a man with what might be characterized as a moderately addictive personality, I can attest that the threat of addiction can be a significant disincentive to drug use.

When crack hit the scene in the '80s, it was certainly well understood among my young peers that part of its danger was the associated Russian roulette of instant addiction. The shadow of that prospect always lingered around the drug and, I'm sure, bled into gut feelings about other drugs, particularly generic cocaine. Except for marijuana, one had the sense that experimentation with drugs was potentially life changing and permanent before it even became a question of deliberate habituation. What is the likely effect when that daunting impression is no longer a reality?

I suspect that experimentation will increase, and that physical addiction's conjoined twin, emotional addiction, will prove to be the tougher monster to defeat. What cure will be available when a nation of adolescent druggies thinks it can stop any time it wants?

Posted by Justin Katz at August 6, 2004 12:40 AM
Culture
Comments

Not sure of your exact age, but I also received "anti-drug education" in the 80s (I'm 26) and had a similar reaction. Crack was presented as resulting in certain addiction after a single use, which was why there were supposedly dealers ready to offer us free samples that we must never accept. I actually thought that my generation, being so informed, would never fall into drug abuse or even cigarette smoking! That, of course, didn't happen. I hate to admit that any street drugs ever sounded potentially appealing in my wayward youth (never used any myself) but cocaine has certainly never been one of them. I tried a handful or so of cigarettes when I was 16 and at my most "juvenile delinquent" stage, and the knowledge that addiction would probably occur if I kept smoking them made me decide not to, because they just weren't fun enough to have yellower teeth and bad breath and the potential of serious health problems from a hard-to-break habit, if I ever started caring about my health again. Which I of course did.

Posted by: Mama Owl, fka Davey's mommy at August 6, 2004 5:26 PM

Ahh yes, nothing like giving the govenment the power to "cure" your addictions. If this "cure" were to even work it makes me wonder what else the government will be allowed to "cure".

BTW, what happens to someone that is cured, but then needs morphine because of surgery? Will that happen often? Probably not, but it certainly is a possibility.

The real problem is giving the government this amount of power over someone's physical self. The biggest problem being, once a power is given to the government, it never gives it back. SO I can imagine once they have this power, what else they would seek to do "in the name of the children".

Posted by: Paul at August 6, 2004 8:51 PM

I speak from experience, crack would have addicted me after 6-8 uses. I stopped at 5, because my "new freinds" who were all 3-5 uses ahead of me (we were all novices to freebase) proceeded to throw their lives down the tubes during those next few weeks.

David Lee Roth sang it for me:
"I've been to the edge, there i stood and looked down. You know i lost a lot of friends there baby -- i've got no time to mess around."

That said, i joke to this day that if Crack were safe cheap and legal, i'd smoke it every day.

Justin nails em.

Posted by: an assumed name at August 8, 2004 2:22 PM