Andrew A. Eggston Quotes
For 40 years we have been looking for ways to make the existence of the narcotic drug addict just as tough as possible. For 40 years we have asked only what new penalties, what new police tech-niques, might make it easier to catch him and lock him up, whether as an ordinary criminal or, more recently, in connection with some more or less sincere efforts at rehabilitation in confinement. I believe that this entire approach is open to grave question as a practical matter
Andrew A. Eggston, Physician, Representative of Medical Society of the State of New York, Senate Committee Testimony, September 1955
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The reason that this is a noteworthy quotation is that it illustrates a problem of alcohol and other drug prevention. Specifically, the “fact” that is the message of the billboard is not correct and exaggerates the danger. The general problem is well-intentioned but inaccurate and misleading information provided to the public. When the public, especially young people, discover that the government or the other organization urging the public to eschew drugs is not telling the truth, they not only tend of disbelieve all anti-drug messages and believe that the warnings given are just part of politics or prudish elements of the society. In this case, many young people and adults have seen or know people who were heroin addicts and are no longer. They are not hooked for life. Worse, a single dosage of heroin does not per se inevitably cause addiction. There have been people who used heroin once, continued to use and became addicts. But there are many more who have tried heroin once or twice who did not become addicted. The real risk is that if someone tries heroin once, he/she may become one of those who goes on and gets hooked. The billboard message is “WILL” and the truth is “MAY”.
Cixi had issued a 10 point edict designed to end opium use in China. One of its most interesting elements was that it only applied to Chinese under the age of 60. She recognized that for those elderly people who are thoroughly addicted to opium, prohibition would be to radical a change and their life expectancy was not very long. At the time, the average lifespan of Chinese was under 50.
