SEPTEMBER | WELCOME
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EDITOR
Tom Hall
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S
ince time immemorial, escapism via mind-altering substances
has been embedded in our culture, and perhaps our nature.
Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s led to a rise in consumption
of moonshine, a beverage so potent it could probably put an actual
shine on the moon.
The 1960s provided the yin to this era’s yang. The festival scene
it ushered in formed part of a revolution promoting the liberating
possibilities of drugs, only to have the good vibes killed, all too literally,
along with Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin and a host of other victims.
Lessons were learnt, but efforts to educate users and potential users
resulted in some decidedly whack messaging. The 1980s ‘Just Say No’
campaign, for example, famously failed because of its patronising,
authoritarian reading of the youth’s psyche.
Today, efforts are being made to find the boundaries between
personal responsibility and public protection. However, there have
been disastrous outcomes from legal or easier to obtain alternatives,
which are often taken naïvely. The designer drug ‘Spice’, and the opioid
Fentanyl are examples – addictions to which are at epidemic levels
in the US, where a $51m per year War On Drugs is facing a backlash
regarding its own effectiveness.
Festivals, with their upbeat music and connection to nature, are
conducive to escapism. But there’s a growing acknowledgment of
drugs’ inevitability. As the AIF’s Paul Reed says (p22): “If you can get
drugs into prisons, you can certainly get them into festivals”.
We’re back then to the unavoidable necessity of education and
harm prevention - but this time there’s a greater onus on empathy and
acceptance.
Tom Hall, Editor
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