Drug and Alcohol Abuse – Archive Article Radio 2GB
December 13, 2008

The Romans used to maintain control over their citizens by bread and circuses – the people were kept fed and entertained, and they were satisfied and so they did not rebel. 2,000 years later, we have not learned from that lesson.

Sydney’s Wayside Chapel and some other churches have attracted much publicity this week with the so-called safe injecting room for heroin users. Wesley Mission has been among the range of organizations criticizing this experiment.

Alongside all the criticisms that have been made, I would like to look at the big picture of drugs. Incidentally, it is worth bearing in mind that the worst drugs remain tobacco and alcohol: these kill far more people each year than heroin. Heroin gets the publicity but tobacco and alcohol do far greater damage.

Alongside all the other criticisms that can be made of alcohol, heroin and the other mind-altering drugs, there is also the problem that these divert people away from reality. Indeed, that may be a reason for their taking drugs in the first place: they do want to escape reality.

They may want to leave reality – but reality will not leave them. This is not a good time to be ignoring what is happening in society.

Over the years, I have been warning about the pace of global change. We are living on the hinge of history: one era is closing down and another is opening up.

But many people are ignoring what is happening. They are being diverted by the modern equivalent of bread and circuses – sport, romance and mind-altering drugs. For example, people know far more the composition of their local sporting teams than they do about global economics.

Then, they are suddenly taken by surprise and get angry. They may be made unemployed, or they are concerned about the future prospects for their kids. They want answers and often do not get them from conventional politicians. Then they turn to extremist politicians, who will give clear answers. They are usually the wrong answers but they are clear.

The global changes are not secret; the information is in the public domain. But people are not looking for that information. Instead, they are trying to escape from reality. This only increases the chances of their becoming a casualty of change.

As they become a casualty of change, so they will become even more reliant on mind-altering drugs. They will be on a downward spiral to the cemetery.

Let me put this point in a more positive way. This era of change is also a period of great opportunities. This is a very exciting time to be alive. We are the people about whom the history books are going to be written in the future – in much the same way as people study the British industrial revolution which took place just over two centuries ago.

To be on mind-altering drugs at the moment is like getting a seat for a Hollywood movie premiere – and then sleeping through the whole movie. What a waste of an opportunity – and what a waste of a life. Life is not a rehearsal. We should make the most of each day.

BROADCAST ON FRIDAY MAY 7 1999 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON MAY 9 1999 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM