Counselor Stresses Education, Prevention

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. â€”  Jed Diamond, a substance-abuse counselor since the flower-child era of the 1960s, says it is a government pipe dream that drug use can ever be halted.

What is needed, he said, are drug education and self-help programs to prevent substance abuse at the grass-roots level of society.

“There’s a difference between drug use and drug abuse; they’re not the same thing,� said Diamond, who runs the Center for Prospering Relationships and knows that his opinions are not exactly mainstream. “If somebody uses cocaine once a month, that’s different than somebody using it once a day and having withdrawal symptoms along with difficulty at work and in relationships.�

His main concern, Diamond said, is not with what a particular drug happens to be, but rather with the person’s relationship to the drug.

“What my belief is, which isn’t commonly accepted but which comes from 22 years of working every day on the front line, is that there really are no good or bad drugs, per se, if they’re looked at scientifically instead of through emotional glasses.�

Even the nicotine in cigarettes, which he called the most addictive substance known to mankind, does not affect everyone. A few people, he said, can smoke only one or two cigarettes a month without getting hooked.

“We must also distinguish between abuse and illegal use,� Diamond said. “Just because something is illegal, we can’t make a blanket assumption that all use of it is abusive.

“If we’re saying ‘let’s say no’ to drugs and aren’t including alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, then we’re not including the most-abused drugs in the country.�

Rather than defining drugs as good or bad, Diamond said, his approach is to look at how honestly people relate to drugs, which have always been around and are not about to disappear or be legislated away.

“This kind of approach works because there’s less opposition from users. But it’s the kind of approach that can’t exist in a system that says any use of illegal drugs is bad and that the user should be locked up or put into treatment.�

The reality, Diamond said, is that drugs are here to stay, that new “designer drugs� are hitting the streets faster than they can be banned, and that marijuana is from two to 10 times stronger than it was only five years ago because of sophisticated growing methods.

‘Devil’s Brew’

Coffee was termed “devil’s brew� for more than 300 years, and caffeine affects people in a way similar to amphetamines--or pep pills--and to a lesser extent cocaine, Diamond said. Being legal, however, makes the antidote for withdrawal symptoms from coffee easy: Simply pour another cup.

One phenomenon that has occurred, Diamond said, is that many people who were once compulsive marijuana or cocaine users are now compulsive alcohol drinkers. The main reason is because it is legal, socially acceptable and easily available, he said.

“There has been no time in human history when drugs were not available, and since 95% of the population is using mind-active drugs of some sort (including alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, sugar and prescription medications, by Diamond’s definition), it’s a pipe dream to think they’re going to stop.�

Once a person becomes chemically addicted, Diamond said, it is difficult and expensive to treat, with up to 85% of the people relapsing back into the addiction within a year.

Periodic Drug Checkups

There are certain high-risk segments of the population who should have their “drug relationships� checked out periodically, much like a dental checkup, said Diamond. These include people from families with drug- or alcohol-abuse problems who may be genetically predisposed toward addictions, friendships based largely on drug use and the use of drugs or alcohol to relieve stressful situations.

It is also important to approach drug education honestly, Diamond said, avoiding the “reefer madness� syndrome of the 1950s in which marijuana was described as a killer drug as dangerous as heroin. Such misinformation, he said, often leads to young people refusing to believe anything they are told on the subject.

Once chemically addicted, Diamond warned, a person can never again resume a “good relationship� with the substance, and at that point has only two choices: to continue the abuse or quit forever.

“Because my position is neutral, some people assume I’m in favor of drug taking,� Diamond said. “But, that’s not so. I’m only interested in teaching people to keep healthy.�