How Do You Understand Why People Use Drugs?
• Understand that every drug user has his or her own motives and reasons for doing what they do. While some motives are common, there is no single explanation. • Consider the socially reinforcing nature of drug use. People use drugs socially because it’s a shared activity and makes them part of a group. • Understand that some people use drugs such as LSD, Mescaline, Mushrooms, Salvia and so on for spiritual or intellectual reasons. It’s generally not a good thing to persecute someone else’s spirituality. • Don’t discount the effects of the drugs. People enjoy the sensations they get from smoking marijuana or using cocaine. The reactions must please these people or else they wouldn’t be using the drugs. • Think about mood enhancements. If a person is sad or depressed, they may turn to alcohol to forget their troubles for awhile. While this works for the short-term, the problems still do not disappear. • Chalk it up to rebellious youth. Many use drugs to attempt to define themselves and
