Youthful drug abuse “relatively unimportant” in N.Z. scene

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32659, 15 July 1971, Page 13

Youthful drug abuse “relatively unimportant” in N.Z. scene

(By

Dr J. S. ROXBURGH.

Medical Officer of Health, Nelson)

We are in the midst of an epidemic of drug interest, and in some cases dose to drug hysteria, which is almost worse than the epidemic of drug abuse. Never have I known a controversy which generated so much heat and so little light as the present one on drugs. It seems to me most important that some perspective and sense of proportion be put into the matter, as the whole subject seems to have lost these at the moment. The three most important forms of drug abuse in this 1 country are rarely mentioned, compared with the relatively unimportant form of youth- ■ ful drug abuse and experimentation so apparently newsworthy and so fre- 1 quently treated in a sensa- 1 tional way. 1 It is hardly surprising that ■ young people are experiment- ! ing with drugs in the light of 1 the over-exposure of the ! whole subject of youthful l drug abuse (especially 1 among “pop heroes”) and ! the over-use of drugs by I their parents', generation. Young people are essentially 1 curious and conforming and 1 very susceptible to adult 1 example even if not to their 1 precepts. Here are some com- i ments on the three most I serious kinds of drug abuse 1 in New Zealand:— <

The most serious form of drug abuse in New Zealand is abuse of alcohol, but I stress abuse of alcohol as,

f used properly and sensibly, it , need cause no harm. But , vast numbers .in our society ’ do not seem to be able to , use it properly. Many do not > regard alcohol as a drug, ; though by any normal definition it is a drug in ‘ beverage form. It was used for centuries i as an anaesthetic before the days of anaesthetic gases and also as a mild relaxant and tranquilliser, before synthetic ones were produced. . There are about 30,000 , addicts to the drug alcohol in New Zealand, usually rei ferred to as alcoholics. As ' each affects the lives of three or four other people, on the average, this in itself is an , enormous public health problem, more than 120,000 New Zealanders being closely affected and having their lives blighted. Then there are many alcohol-related problems, due directly to abuse of this drug, the first of which is road accidents. About 600 are

killed each year, plus 15,000 injured or permanently disabled on our roads. At least 50 per cent of this toll is due directly to abuse of alcohol, so this is another very big public health problem. Many broken marriages, causing misery and emotional disablement both in the partners and the innocent children involved, result from abuse of alcohol. Illegitimacy and venereal disease are both frequently a result of abuse of alcohol and are important medico-social problems; similarly with much crime and delinquency. The sum total of all these

: effects of abuse of the drug : alcohol amounts to a very ' great deal of misery, illness > (mental, physical and social), t disablement and death. Smoking death-rate 1 Next comes cigarette smoking. Over 700 deaths 1 occur in New Zealand a year ' as a result of this pernicious 1 habit, but few seem to re- ’■ gard it as such; even fewer 1 regard it as a drug-abuse ■ problem. But cigarettes, with their 1 content of the drug nicotine, ; are more addictive for most ‘ people than alcohol, and ; many find it extremely diffi- ' cult to give them up, even when their health (as well as their pocket) is really begin- . hing to suffer. The medical facts have been known for nigh on 20 ■ years now, but they don’t . seem to have made much ; difference, and the annual consumption keeps going up. , I notice recently that consumption had risen again last year, from the previous year’s 4700 million cigarettes in New Zealand to 5300 million. Young people are still taking up the habit as much as ever, it seems, and young women and girls, even more so.

Doctors have set a reasonably good example, about 80 per cent of them being non-cigarette-smokers now. All health workers, teachers, and youth leaders could help greatly by setting a good example and not smoking in front of young people. It has been said that with such people the rule should

?be that cigarette smoking y should only be done “by cons senting adults in private!” i, The medical facts are not as universally known as they should be. Most know the link between lung cancer and B cigarette smoking, but fewer s know that it is from heart r disease that more are being s killed by smoking. Coronary - attacks are much more likely r in smokers. Chronic bronchis tis and peripheral vascular disease are also closely linked r with cigarette smoking. >, It is well worth giving up t smoking even if you have 1 been smoking for 25 years. . The risk of death is greatly t reduced right away, and it s is quite wrong in most . cases to say “the damage has been done, I may as well go > on.” Of course, this is usuj ally a rationalisation for the t fact that they are well and ; truly “hooked,” or addicted, , virtually slaves to their cigarette. Even this fact can be ’ made use of with young ’ people, by pointing out to , them how addictive the habit ’is. Explain that the medical 1 facts were not known when ■ you took it up. ! Too many parents are ’ doing little or nothing to dis-: l suade their young peoplei ! from starting smoking, and i I have come across a num-. ■ ber of cases recently where ■; 1 they almost encourage it, i ■ even in 14 and 15-year-olds. i I Parents’ role ! 1 | I Parents can help by tell- i i ing them the facts, explain- j ing that cigarette smoking is , a very expensive way to , gamble with one’s health, and offering something, really worth while if they do not smoke before they are 2!. . Bribery may be bad as a ! rule, but such an offer can . prove a very good invest- . ment. It has worked well I with some of my friends, wbo I have offered their teen-agers 1 perhaps $lOO-$250 (depending on degree of affluence or incentive required), if they do not smoke before 21. Usually by then they have the sense not to take it up as jhe period of greatest “social pressure” to conform by smoking is mainly before that.

The cigarette “pushers” still often aim their advertisements at young people in spite of their code of ethics not to, and much of it is very insidiously done. Ironically, this is all quite legal. The cigarette companies have stated that they would adopt a policy of not directing their advertising at young people, and stop making smoking look glamorous, link it with romance, or imply that it is a go-ahead habit and an essential part of the excitement of modem living. Br they do not stick to their policy.

; slightly cheated if their doc- - tor does not prescribe something for them, whatever t their symptoms may be. / The “pill for every ill” idea » seems to be firmly implanted j in the minds of most of the r population, and the sooner t it is eradicated the better. It » is just as important to do f something about this “orgy f of drug-taking” by the public . at large as the youthful exr perimentation which is going j on. Tranquillisers ! It is with psychotropic (or ' mood altering) drugs that J this is worst, and vast . numbers of them are being t prescribed—almost 100 mil- . lion doses last year for , fewer than 3 million New . Zealanders, who could, or , should, have one of the most [ “tranquil” countries in the world to live in. It constantly . amazes me just how many i unhappy, tense and anxious people there are around, who ‘ hope that they can alter their mood by drugs. This is an enormous question in itself, and cannot be more than touched on here; but what many need is a new philosophy of life, a less materialistic outlook, and less egocentricity or selfishness. Also, there is a great need for education of young and old, ridding them of the idea that anything short of complete psychological well-being should not be tolerated, resulting in a search for some sort of drug relief far what until recent times would have been accepted as part of the '‘ups and downs of life.” Therapeutic “thorns” ; A few doctors certainly! prescribe too freely; a few : more perhaps give way to “patient-pressure” too easily; , the majority are doing their , best for their patients by tak-1 ing advantage of the great i

benefits which can be obtained from proper use of potent modem drugs. The lay public must be educated to realise that “every therapeutic rose has its thorns,” as one eminent physician explained the side effects of all potent drugs; and the public must! also be made to realise that! if their doctor does not think they need drugs for whatever symptoms they have, they should be pleased rather than discontented. It indicates a self-limiting condition or one which will respond to some simple measures or a change in life-style or habit, such as some rest, giving up cigarettes, having more exercise, and eating less food. Education needed Compared with the above three drug abuse problems, youthful experimentation with marihuana and other drugs is not serious, though I would not wish to minimise it overmuch. It is likely to get worse before it gets better, and arbitrary or repressive legislation, however well meaning, is not likely to control the situation any better than it has done in overseas countries.

What we must do is to try to vaccinate the minds of young people against the “infection” of drug abuse, by sympathy, understanding education, support for those needing 'it and the susceptibles, encouraging active interests, and above all by giving them a good home and a good example instead of ourselves indulging in the above mentioned three types of drug abuse. There is plenty of fun in life without drugs, and whole and healthy young people do not need or want drugs. [The views expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Health.]