Evaluate The Term Moral Panic In Regards To Drug Use 

The increase of the number of drug users presents a cause for alarm. Drugs are extremely dangerous and affect people on many levels. Just as chemicals affect bodies, drug use, as a social phenomenon, makes a serious impact on humanity as a whole. The realization of the adverse effects caused a moral panic that can have drastic consequences on its own.

A moral panic is an intense feeling of distress that appears in society regarding some issue that can pose a threat to its wellbeing. It is a very dangerous tool that has been utilized by some of the most reviled people in history, like Hitler and Stalin. Both of them used their positions and influence in order to trigger moral panics in their respective countries. This resulted in Holocaust, exiles and persecution that caused millions of deaths. The worst thing is that imprinting the idea of a perceived threat can make people aggressive enough to destroy the reason of their fear. This leads to massive discrimination. Moral panic is so dangerous because once started, the chances of stopping it are nearly non-existent. Even if someone manages to take the situation under control, there will always be some residual resentment in the back of people’s minds. Therefore, the object that served as a focus for moral panic will be ostracized forever, at least to some degree.

The meaning of the term “moral panic” differs depending on the subject it is referring to. In regards to drug use, it can be described as the fear that the society has of the detrimental effect of drugs. But what is the real source of this fear? Once you give this matter some thought, it will become obvious that the moral panic around this issue is caused by drugs themselves. If there were none, there would be nothing for people to take. However, society can hardly ostracize chemicals, this is why its people who take them that are feared and discriminated against. This kind of attitude is one of the reasons that prevent drug addicts from getting proper treatment. This means that moral panic exacerbates the problem.

As a social phenomenon, moral panics are extremely complex and can be a great threat for a separate group of people and humanity as a whole. In regards to drug use, this effect is one of the major reasons that make resolving this problem more difficult.

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