I placed second in the D.A.R.E. essay contest in middle school. I remember that I enjoyed my time in the program and even grew to admire the police officer who led the class.
A few years down the road, I found myself doing all of the same drugs that I had sworn off in that D.A.R.E. class. I also found myself not being exposed to any other drug diversion or drug education classes post-middle school.
Thankfully, I did my own research on websites such as Bluelight.org and Erowid.org. I educated myself and other curious friends. If I wouldn’t have taken those precautionary steps prior to ingesting a substance, I could have easily suffered some dire consequences.
The stakes are higher now than they were when I began experimenting a few years ago. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 50 times stronger than heroin, is as prevalent as ever. The drug is making its way into cocaine and the data is startling.
A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in May recorded that the number of overdose deaths, mainly involving fentanyl, jumped from around 3,000 to over 19,000 from 2010 to 2016. Cocaine was a factor in about 22 percent of those deaths.
This is frightening because cocaine is a stimulant whereas fentanyl is a depressant.
Recreational cocaine users usually aren’t looking to nod off after snorting a line. They’re two completely different drug markets.
There are ways to prevent and reverse a fentanyl overdose.
Fentanyl test strips are available online for only $20. Narcan, a nasal spray that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, is available over the counter at most drug stores and online.
Basic information regarding drug use, harm reduction and overdose reversal should be made widespread and popularized. Everyone should know how to respond to an overdose, how to approach a friend who might be struggling with addiction and how to safely do drugs if they wish.
I’m sure I’m representative of a large amount of the population when I say that D.A.R.E. didn’t have much of a lasting effect on me. I’m also sure that I stand apart from much of that population when I say that I educated myself on safe drug use.
Harm reduction is a practical solution to those unsettling statistics I mentioned earlier. Scaring kids away from drugs didn’t work for me or the 19,000 people who lost their lives in 2016 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose.
What might actually save lives is mandatory harm reduction education in high school and other awareness campaigns. High school students are old enough to understand that some of their peers, or themselves, may experiment with drugs. They’re also old enough to understand that drugs can easily kill.
If abstinence-based education does little to solve the problem of unwanted teenage pregnancies, then what makes educators think a “just say no” approach to drug use will solve the drug epidemic? We need a combination of de-stigmatization and sensible harm reduction education to save lives.
James Smith is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Grand Coteau, Louisiana.