Substance Abuse Disorders: Should We Recognise the Psychological Issues Underlying Drug Misuse?

In recent years we have seen the highest levels of drug use since the early 2000s. This begs the question: is our current system actually working?

Between 1916 and 1928, the British government started enforcing the criminalisation of addictive substances, and since then, the use of recreational drugs has become punishable by law. However, there is clear evidence that substance misuse is rooted in mental illness and that there are far more effective forms of rehabilitation than imprisonment. Public Health England estimates that 70% of drug users experience mental health problems. This alludes to the fact that the majority of substance users are mentally unwell in some capacity. Therefore presenting drug misuse as a coping mechanism rather than a crime.

Prison has also proven to be ineffective discouragement for drug abusers. Reoffence and relapse rates are high among those with drug-related offences with 60% of prisoners reoffending within 5 years. Further to this, 15% of the entire prison population in the UK are known to have drug-related issues, meaning approximately £813M of taxpayer money is used to keep drug addicts in prisons – a system we know does not work.

Regardless of the monetary consequences, the drug use statistics in England speak for themselves. The use of MDMA in 16-19 between 2018-19 was 4.5%. This is the highest percentage recorded since 2001-02. Deaths related to Benzodiazepines went up from 191 deaths in 2015 to 792 deaths in 2018. The UK has the highest levels of crack cocaine problems in the entirety of Europe. Therefore, not only does imprisonment fail as a rehabilitation service, but it also fails as a deterrent.

With knowledge and awareness of these statistics, we must question whether imprisonment and criminalisation should be the route that we take when dealing with drug misuse, as opposed to hospitalisation or professional psychiatric help. Drug rehabilitation centres report as low as a 40% relapse rate after the first treatment. It’s common knowledge that recovery isn’t linear and often takes people years, but the difference in recovery statistics – even in just the first year – is astounding.

The opinions surrounding how we combat substance abuse are divisive. Some people believe in simply locking away perpetrators, whilst others believe that enforced hospitalisation such as psychiatric holds and rehabilitation programs are better suited to combat the problem.

Perhaps if we work to review the way in which we approach the drug crisis in this country, we could see more fruitful results, leading to more recoveries and ultimately, more lives being saved.

Edited by Faith Suronku-Lindsay