WARNING
Recreational drug use can be dangerous to your health and possession of certain controlled substances in the UK can result in an unlimited fine, prison sentence or both. For more information visit talktofrank.com.
The modern world is awash with information about the dangers of so-called recreational drugs, yet drug-taking remains a problem. Why do so many people choose to put unfamiliar chemicals into their bodies, despite being told repeatedly that it’s a bad idea? What compels us to take drugs at all?
There are many factors to consider when answering this question, the first of which can be categorised as biological.
Staunchly anti-drug types may insist that taking drugs is unnatural. Evidence suggests otherwise, however, because it seems that taking drugs is something our brains evolved to do.
Think about it: why would chemicals completely foreign to our biology interact with our brains at all, let alone so potently? And how would our bodies know how to break them down and flush them out?
This suggests that our neurology and metabolism have been encountering drugs for long enough to evolve specific biological mechanisms for dealing with them.
It’s believed that our pre-human ancestors regularly ate psychotropic or ‘drug’-containing plants and gained survival advantages from them (such as more energy for hunting after consuming coca-like stimulants). Hence, researchers argue our brains and bodies evolved to take greater advantage of them. Accordingly, modern brains respond ‘enthusiastically’ to drugs.
Also, we experience pleasure from things we consume on a daily basis. The fact that foodstuffs trigger the reward pathway, which is the same part of the brain that’s triggered by drugs, has been pointed out repeatedly in the media.
Most people are familiar with the thought process that goes ‘If I put this in my body, it will be enjoyable.’ It stands to reason, therefore, that trying drugs isn’t the huge conceptual leap that many might assume.
The second factor we have to consider is psychological. Sigmund Freud argued that humans are motivated to pursue things that provide pleasure and avoid things that induce pain or discomfort. With a mindset like that, who wouldn’t try taking drugs?
Luckily, it’s not that simple. Humans are far more complex when it comes to motivations and decisions, and have ample exposure to the notion that drugs cause pain and distress. But even so, there are many psychological influences that increase someone’s odds of trying drugs.
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Our brains are constantly calculating whether the effort something requires is worth the potential reward. And if you’re not persuaded about the dangers of drugs, they would appear to offer maximum reward for minimum effort. It’s not all pleasure, though.
The data shows many who take drugs have pre-existing mental health conditions, suggesting that self-medication is a strong driver.
Peer pressure and conformity are also important. Because the human brain is social, volumes of data about the dangers of drugs can still be less persuasive than friends saying, “It’s fine, try it,” because the latter is a more tangible, emotionally resonant source of information.
On top of this, group harmony also shapes our decisions. We often prioritise ‘not rocking the boat’ over our own wellbeing, so if the group we identify with is fine with taking drugs, we’re likely to be okay with it too. Particularly when we’re younger – adolescent brains are known to be far less risk-averse and more sensation-seeking, so experimenting with drugs is much more likely during your teens.
Why anti-drug campaigns often fail
Psychology may also explain why the history of anti-drug campaigns is one of constant failure. Our innate desire for autonomy means that being told what to do by aloof authority figures will often make us want to do the opposite. If you tell people to ‘Say no to drugs’ without adequate justification, they’re more likely to say no to that instruction.
Finally, the social category. Humans are products of the societies we grow up in. And, while many modern cultures adopt a dogmatic anti-drug stance, historically they’ve been far more drug-friendly.
Whether it’s khat, hash, coca, psychedelics or communion wine, drugs have been a part of human societies for thousands of years. The ‘just say no’ approach is a tough sell when your culture has been saying ‘yes’ for millennia.
Perhaps anti-drug messages would be more convincing if they were more consistent. But they aren’t. Impoverished people using heroin in a squalid bedsit is an image many anti-drug campaigns have used to discourage substance use. But wealthy people doing cocaine in a nightclub toilet? That’s fine, apparently. You can run businesses, or even countries, if you do that.
Ultimately, biological, psychological and sociological factors all intersect to influence our attitudes to drugs. No one’s denying drug abuse is a serious problem, but it’s also a complex one. And we won’t make any progress in tackling it if we ignore that last point.
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