Today, let's talk about scientific literacy and the
war on drugs. The University of Houston's College
of Engineering presents this series about the
machines that make our civilization run, and the
people whose ingenuity created them.
You've seen that public
service spot on TV -- the one where a man splats an
egg in a frying pan to show you what drugs do to
your brain. I don't like that. The hidden message
is that we have nothing more convincing to say
about drug use.
We need to follow scientific cause and effect to
understand the dangers of modern life -- disease,
drugs, and more. For example, what do we really
know about AIDS? The media recite the words, "Wear
a condom!" like a mantra. But few of us have a
clear picture of how virulent AIDS is -- or isn't.
An article on cocaine addiction in
Science magazine brought this home the
other day. I'd heard the same confusing things you
have. Finally, I had a hard technical explanation
of what medical scientists are saying to each other
about cocaine.
I had to labor in the unfamiliar waters of
psychology and neurophysiology. Still, it was a
blessed relief from eggs and frying pans. It also
painted the most sinister picture of cocaine I've
seen. It was so sinister because it was convincing.
As many as 3,000,000 Americans need treatment for
cocaine addiction. Only 10 to 15 percent of people
who try cocaine become addicts. Most suffer
overwhelming anxiety and walk away. But that means
as many as 30,000,000 Americans may have tried the
stuff.
In 1980 we still thought cocaine was nonaddictive.
Now we know the patterns have fooled us. Cocaine
users are less regular than alcoholics. They binge
and crash. During the crash, they crave food and
sleep, but not cocaine. The crash might go on as
long as four days.
After the crash comes withdrawal. That lasts from
one to ten weeks. The user finds little pleasure in
anything else -- he wants cocaine again. If he gets
past withdrawal, the old craving can come back
intermittently for years. He's at greater risk of
relapse than recovering alcoholics or even
recovering smokers.
And what about the egg in the frying pan? Well,
cocaine does alter brain chemistry, but it's not
clear how. We don't yet know the extent of physical
addiction -- only that it's interwoven with
psychological factors.
Cocaine use goes on because users don't see it
frying their brains like eggs. If they did, it'd be
an obvious threat. Addiction is woven far more
subtly into mind and body.
It takes more than slogans to beat drugs -- or
disease. It takes an understanding of scientific
cause and effect. It's high time we did more to
honor the public's ability to face complexity and
subtlety. Especially in the business of its own
survival!
I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston,
where we're interested in the way inventive minds
work.
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