What do all drugs have in common? * Abstinence * Addiction * Effects on behavior
Excessive dosages * Interactions * Personal & fetal health * Set & setting
ABSTINENCE
Does abstinence equal complete safety? Unfortunately, no. Even though abstinence is the safest route, you can still be at risk simply because someone else’s drug abuse can affect you. Below are three examples of harm reduction efforts aimed at protecting people who don’t engage in personal, intentional drug use:
- Drunk driving: Of the tens of thousands of Americans that are injured or killed in drunk driving collisions each year, only a small percentage of them represent the intoxicated drivers responsible for the accident. The majority of victims are innocent passengers and drivers who were completely sober at the time of the collision. Efforts to fight this problem in various parts of the country have included volunteer-run ride services for bar patrons; bar policies that give unlimited, free, non-alcoholic beverages to designated drivers; and laws holding bars and restaurants liable if they allow their customers to leave drunk and then get behind a wheel.
- Second-hand smoking: Roughly 400,000 Americans die each year from cancers and diseases caused by tobacco smoking. Second-hand smoking kills at least another 50,000, and most of these victims lived with or worked around regular smokers, in which case the risk was very difficult to avoid. So states such as California have passed laws prohibiting indoor smoking of any kind. One of the main intentions of such laws is to protect the health of employees at restaurants, bars, and other places where smoking is common.
- Drug-assisted rape: Today, depressants (i.e. mostly alcohol, but also GHB) are involved in more cases of rape than any other category of substances. This is because depressants decrease mobility and consciousness, allowing the culprit to take advantage of his victim with little resistance. Other risks include nausea and respiratory failure. Some victims have fallen into comas and even choked on their own vomit after being drugged. Download my GHB pamphlet for tips on preventing overdose and drug-assisted rape.
And if you want to see how I used to look after a night of abstaining, check this out. Even without any drugs, alcohol, or energy drinks, I partied until the sun rose and came out of the rave looking like this. That was when I was 19. But nowadays, I couldn't last an hour on the dance floor just being sober.
© 2003
Feel free to email me at lesliu@gmail.com for questions or feedback.
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