Opinion: Fear-based messaging doesn’t stop drug use. But it does make things worse
Scaring people simply isn't very good at preventing drug use.
It “rots” flesh. It “tears” bone. It will turn you into a “zombie.” According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his colleagues, these are some of the reasons we should fear and criminalize xylazine, a veterinary sedative and painkiller that is increasingly found in drugs purchased on the U.S. illicit market.
This hyperbolic, oversimplified, and fearmongering rhetoric is not new. Those of us who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s may remember commercials that compared our brains “on drugs” to fried eggs, or perhaps attended Drug Abuse Resistance Education (also known as D.A.R.E.). These are just a few examples of the many fear-based drug narratives over the years that have suggested that any and all drug consumption leads to addiction, violence and, often, the user’s transformation into some sort of beast.
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