Cato Unbound has a wonderful piece, Towards a Culture of Responsible Psychoactive Drug Use, by Earth and Fire Erowid, the founders of Erowid.org. The article provides a rational discussion of why people use psychoactive substances and what can be done to minimize the harms and maximize the benefits of such use. Over the next week, Cato will post responses from Jonathan Caulkins, Jacob Sullum, and Mark Kleiman.

I read the piece last night in its entirety and don’t recall finding a single word I disagree with. What struck me is how far removed modern drug education is from even discussing these commonsense principles. Do this information sound dangerous to you?

Fundamentals of Responsible Psychoactive Use

* Investigate the health risks and dangers of the specific psychoactive and of the class of drugs to which it belongs.
* Learn about interactions with other recreational drugs, medications, supplements, and activities.
* Review individual health concerns, predispositions, and family health history.
* Choose a source or product carefully to help ensure correct identification and purity
(avoid materials with an unknown source or of unknown quality).
* Know whether the drug is likely to reduce the ability to drive, operate equipment, or pay attention to necessary tasks.
* Take oneself "off duty" from responsibilities that might be interfered with (job, child care, etc.), and arrange for someone else to be “on duty” for such responsibilities.
* Anticipate reasonably foreseeable risks to oneself and others and employ safeguards to minimize those risks.
* Choose an appropriate occasion and location for use.
* Select and measure dosages carefully.
* Begin with a low dose until individual reactions are known and thereafter use the minimum dose necessary to achieve the desired effects: lower doses are safer doses.
* Reflect on and adjust use to minimize physical and mental health problems.
* Note changes in health over time that may be related to use.
* Modify use if it interferes with work or personal goals.
* Check in with peers and family and accept feedback about one’s use.
* Track reactions to specific drugs and dosages in order to avoid repeating mistakes.
* Seek treatment if needed.
* Decide not to use when the time isn’t right, the material is suspect, or the situation is otherwise problematic.

Anyone who has a problem with any of this should contemplate the consequences of allowing young people to learn these lessons the hard way. The fact that these ideas might be considered controversial should serve to remind us how badly our society has demolished its own ability to discuss drug use with people who use drugs.