Substances Without the Romance

Youth culture and advertising describe substances either as a ticket to freedom or as instant moral collapse. For safety, what matters is not the symbol but the composition, the dose, the combinations, the state of the person and the availability of help.

That statement does not settle every real situation. People experiment, come under pressure, have an addiction or have already taken something. Moralising then only reduces the chance that they will ask for help.

An unknown illegal product cannot be reliably judged by its look, its name, its shape or the seller’s words. Plant origin guarantees nothing about safety. A small active dose does not make a substance less dangerous: on the contrary, a small error in quantity can matter a great deal.

The risk is highest with an unknown composition, with mixing substances and with using alone.

If use happens anyway, the main harm reduction measures are these:

• do not stay alone;
• do not mix substances, especially with alcohol and sedatives;
• do not drive;
• do not take an unknown pill on the strength of its appearance;
• know the local emergency number;
• have access to naloxone where opioids are possible;
• do not leave a person showing signs of overdose alone.

Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose, but emergency help is still needed after it is used.

Taking an offered substance to avoid pressure is not the best way out. It can create legal risk and an opening for further coercion.

Better to have a short refusal ready in advance:

No.

I do not use.

I am not allowed to.

I am leaving.

An explanation is not required. A person who does not accept a refusal is more dangerous than the awkwardness.

Addiction is not proof of weak character. It is a condition in which professional help and support are especially needed, not extra shame.

Help is most often called too late not because nobody knows the number. Out in the hallway a different conversation is going on in whispers: what happens to the parents, the university, the rented flat, who gets told and who gets tracked down afterwards. While that arithmetic is being done, the person on the sofa gets worse, and the one quantity that does not appear in the calculation is time. It is the only one that is actually working here.

The practical consequence is boring: agree in advance who calls for help and on what sign, before the group has gathered and started discussing the consequences. A decision taken on a calm day does not later have to defeat other people’s fear and your own shame.