Many upper-middle class drug warriors like to believe that illegal drug use is one of the dirty habits of the poor -- perhaps treating it as a convenient explanation for why they are poor. Consistent with such prejudices, American prisons are full of people from low SES backgrounds, convicted on drug charges. However, the National Survey on Drug Use does not show any clear correlation between drug use and the components of SES measures (e.g. formal education).

This implies that many people are able to live pretty normal lives despite illegal drug use -- both past and ongoing. By personally disproving the slanderous propaganda put out by drug warriors (that drug users are shiftless troublemakers), these drug users may believe that they are immune to the risks associated with drug use.

Clinton B. McCracken has expounded on this attitude in his recent essay/memoir called "Intellectualization of drug abuse". The original essay requires a subscription to JAMA, but some of the core points are covered by the NY Times.

McCracken, an addiction researcher, first provides some background -- health care professionals use illegal drugs at rates that are at least as high as the general population. He then reports on his own experience with using illegal drugs. He smoked pot daily, even cultivating a little for personal use. He and his wife occasionally injected opiates that they acquired through international pharmacies. Everything seemed to be going fine until his wife died from injecting a contaminated preparation of opiates.

Following her death, the cops searched McCracken's house, discovering his plants and arresting him on felony drug charges. He was able to avoid substantial jail time, but being a Canadian citizen, he faces deportation from the USA, and future restrictions on international travel. If this weren't enough to destroy his career, many employers will hesitate before hiring someone with a felony criminal record.

Anyone familiar with the political rehabilitation process for busted drug users will recognize this essay as one of those mea culpas that tend to win some forgiveness from the authorities. Throughout the entire essay, McCracken emphasizes the dangers of illegal drug use (particularly, the dangers of injecting drugs), and his own blindness to those dangers. If this essay helps any individual adjust his drug use to avoid the loss that McCracken has suffered, then it is a noble endeavor.

However, if we read between the lines with a mind to public policy, we can quickly realize that all of McCracken's suffering can be traced to the drug war. His wife died because of contaminated drugs -- the risk of such contamination greatly increases when the government prevents the free flow of information in a market. The rest of his troubles are the direct result state action. Consequently, I don't place the blame on McCracken any more than I blame the victim of a mugging for taking a walk on a quiet street at night. The blame for ruining these two lives falls squarely on the drug warriors.