Here are a few sentences to ponder, as we process the latest data on the overdose crisis:
Most drug epidemics don’t simply disappear: they transform themselves into something else. For example, periods of excessive stimulant use are often followed by periods of rising alcohol, sedative and opiate use. There are drug-facilitated cycles of stimulation, introspection, intoxication, and emotional anesthesia. Repeated episodes of each drug experience generate the appetite for the next experience/drug in the sequence. In the second half of the twentieth century, we have seen two repetitions of the following cycle: short acting stimulant use (cocaine) followed by longer acting stimulant use (methamphetamine) followed by a rise in depressant use (alcohol/sedatives/heroin). While this cyclical pattern of stimulation, over stimulation, self-sedation is evident in individuals, it is equally evident in the evolving drug tastes of the larger society. The implication is that a community plagued by rampant methamphetamine dependence must respond not only to this pattern, but to the rising problems of alcohol, sedative and narcotic dependence that are likely to follow it.
White, W. & Webber, R. (2003) Substance use trends: History and principles. Counselor, 4(3), 18-20.
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