Drug addiction is a mental health problem, not a crime (Photo via Shutterstock)

The common stereotype of drug addicts today is that they are people of low moral strength, submitting to a vice that leads to a life of lawlessness. If they don’t exercise self-control and stop their habit, they deserve the full force of the law to coerce them into doing so.

It is this philosophy that underpins the War on Drugs — as well as the failure of modern society to curb drug addiction.

What those suffering through drug addiction need most is not heavy-handed punishment, but love and opportunity. They should not be treated as inferior creatures, but as human-beings going through hard-times, in need of a support network to get themselves back on their feet.

Writer Johann Hari describes the phenomenon of drug addiction perfectly in a 2015 Ted Talk.

While most people view addiction as a simple chemical imbalance in the brain that can be corrected through abstinence or medication, Hari explains the role that environment and relationships play. He cites a 1970s experiment as evidence.

In that study, Professor Bruce Alexander put a rat alone in an empty cage with nothing but ordinary water and cocaine-laced water. The rat quickly became addicted to cocaine and overdosed. Then he created a more enjoyable cage named Rat Park, equipped with cheese, toys, and other rats as company — along with the two water options. Tellingly, the subjects in Rat Park did not become drug addicts.

After learning about this study, I began to recognize this phenomenon in everyday life. Whether it is people who are addicted to more socially-acceptable drugs such as alcohol or tobacco, or taboo ones such as heroin or amphetamines, these people often feel a lack of connection with others and a lack of satisfaction with some aspect of their lives. The drugs offer an escape — a way to make the harsh realities of life disappear, if only for a short while.

While it is blatantly obvious that the Filipino policy of killing drug addicts is cruel, the War on Drugs in America and other Western societies operates in a more subtly savage way.

“For 100 years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts. I think all along we should have been singing love songs to them, because the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.” -Writer Johann Hari

Rather than accepting addicts and helping them with the deeper mental causes of their suffering, we often punish and shun them. On a legal level, they are sent to jails and put in an even more negative environment than what caused their addiction in the first place. On a personal level, we use our relationships as a bargaining chip, threatening to withhold love or cut them out of our lives completely if they don’t correct their bad habit for us.

Not only is this mindset selfish, it is counterproductive, pushing drug addicts deeper into the darkness that feeds their addiction. It is why the War on Drugs hasn’t worked, and why we are facing an increasingly fatal opiate crisis in America.

Portugal provides the world with a perfect example of the kind of productive drug policies that are needed. After decriminalizing all drugs in 2001, even the hardest ones like heroin, their addiction and overdose rates dropped drastically. Instead of being locked behind bars, Portuguese addicts are provided with health workers who ensure they are taking their drugs safely — while simultaneously convincing them to quit. It seems radical, but the result speaks for itself.

Creating governmental change like this is a necessary long-term solution to the root causes of addiction, but we can all make a difference on an interpersonal level. Befriend a drug addict. Talk to them about their lives and listen, rather than judge. Show them the empathy and love they need, rather than perpetuating the stereotype that exacerbates their alienation.

Some of the most loving people I ever met were drug addicts, and some of the coldest were those condemning them. With a little courage and a lot of compassion, perhaps society can finally learn how to combat drug addiction effectively — with acceptance and most importantly, with love.