Drugs

A DISEASE NOT A CRIME

Article by Taylor Riley Graphic by Jaidyn Holt

America’s longest war was declared over 50 years ago, and according to research from the University of Pennsylvania, the government has spent over one trillion dollars on it, which also makes it our most expensive war. Unfortunately, it was a total waste of time and money, because the war on drugs has been outrageously unsuccessful.

“ e global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world,” the report titled “War on Drugs” written by the Global Commission on Drug Policy” reads. “End the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others.”

Possibly the most damaging e ect of the war on drugs was criminalization of drug use, which radically changed the general public’s opinions on drug users. Criminalization created a harmful culture of shame around illegal drug usage, which has prevented healthy conversations about addiction from occurring on a widespread scale. e shame surrounding addiction discourages many addicts from seeking help for fear of judgement. Jillian O’Connell is a prevention specialist at FCD Prevention Works, an organization that visits schools to deliver seminars about addiction and prevention. O’Connell visited Trinity in January to educate students about addiction, and says that some of the most frequent obstacles to recovery are the lack of information about addiction and the shame surrounding drug use.

“For me, when I was in my active addiction, there was a sense of shame that came with it,” O’Connell said. “Logically, I know that this is not healthy for me, but it doesn’t feel like I have a choice anymore whether or not to use alcohol or other drugs.”

Trinity has started the conversation about addiction by bringing in representatives from FCD and including a drug curriculum in the required Health and Wellness class. is class is in part taught by physical education teacher Dee Starling, who explained the steps they are taking to start educating students about drug use and addiction. “ e entire [Health and Wellness] curriculum is about making good choices,” Starling said. “Addiction could possibly be a result of anyone that exposes themselves to drugs or alcohol. We do talk about that risk and that at that point, you may not be able to make the decision. Addiction is a disease that takes time and support to heal and conquer.”

However, for many addicts, support is nowhere to be found. A study conducted by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that there is a societal bias against addicts, and that people tend to view addicts as failures who lack restraint when in actuality they are struggling with a serious disease. Associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and study leader Colleen L. Barry explains their ndings in the published paper titled “Study: Public Feels More Negative Toward People With Drug Addiction an ose With Mental Illness.”

“While drug addiction and mental illness are both chronic, treatable health conditions, the American public is more likely to think of addiction as a moral failing than a medical condition,” Barry said. “In recent years, it has become more socially acceptable to talk publicly about one’s struggles with mental illness. But with addiction, the feeling is that the addict is a bad or weak person, especially because much drug use is illegal.” e solution to this societal bias would be conversations about addiction that can destigmatize drug abuse and encourage addicts to seek help. However, criminalization prevents that from happening. is is one reason why many people advocate for the decriminalization of drugs.

To be clear, decriminalization does not mean that any illicit drugs would be legalized. Under decriminalization, people found with personal-use amounts of an illegal drug would face a small penalty such as a ne, but selling drugs or carrying any amount beyond what is considered personal-use would still result in prison time.

Decriminalization turns the possession of drugs from a criminal justice issue into a public health one, meaning illicit drug usage is handled by psychologists, doctors and counselors, which has been proven to be more e ective in reducing drug problems. e PEW Charitable Trusts has released statistics that prove that states with more drug-related imprisonment show the same rate of drug problems such as usage and overdose as states with less arrests. Arresting people does nothing to solve the addiction and overdose crisis our country faces.

Decriminalization, on the other hand, has been proven to work. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the possession and use of numerous illicit street drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin. According to a report by the Cato Institute conducted over ve years later, it was shown that the number of annual deaths from street drug overdoses had dropped from 400 to 290. Additionally, the number of new HIV cases caused by using unsanitary needles to inject illegal substances had decreased by 71%. Oregon has recently followed suit and become the rst state to decriminalize personal use and possession of illegal drugs. e changes necessary to institute policies of decriminalization must come from our government, but we as citizens are not completely powerless. We can clear our own biases, raise awareness about the cause, donate to nonprofits that support rehabilitation and vote for policies that support decriminalization and end the war on drugs.

Beyond statistics and percentages of overdoses, arrests and overcrowded prisons, the war on drugs is about people. People who are struggling with addiction and being thrown in prisons for minor possession crimes rather than given the opportunity for safe and healthy rehabilitation. Addiction is a disease, and we need to stop treating it like a crime.

NEW SCHOOLS, SAME SPORT

Article by Boaz Kim Photos by Anuha Tatineni Photos by Anuha Tatineni

“As UCF is joining the Big XII, I will be part of history as they begin the new conference and compete against some of the nation’s best.” -Sara Stricklin, Rowing at the University of Central Florida

“I would like to go undefeated in the season and move up in the national rankings. I will be given the opportunity to compete with the best players in the nation and be on a team that will allow me to reach my full potential.” -Kian Vakili, Tennis at the University of Pennsylvania

“I would like to go undefeated in the season and move up in the national rankings. I will be given the opportunity to compete with the best players in the nation and be on a team that will allow me to reach my full potential.” -Kian Vakili, Tennis at the University of Pennsylvania “Trinity has already surrounded me with an environment of high expectations and a hard working student body, so the transition should be pretty easy for me.” -Nicholas Carpenter, Cross Country and Track at the University of Pennsylvania “It has been my lifelong dream to play Division I basketball because I grew up watching a lot of college basketball, so to have the chance to perform at the highest level in front of my friends and family means a lot to me.” -Javon Bennett, Basketball at Merrimack College

Eight senior athletes will go on to pursue their athletic and academic careers in college

“Being a college athlete in the sport that I’ve loved since I was six will defi nitely keep me motivated to keep performing well in school and in the pool.” -Dylan Reher, Swimming at Washington and Lee University

“I am looking forward to the camaraderie and bonding moments which I will experience with my teammates. I hope the relationships I form at Bowdoin will remain years after my time as a Polar Bear.” -Neiman Mocombe, Diving at Bowdoin College

“I love soccer and I want to keep playing it at a high level for as long as I can. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning and is what I live for. Playing soccer in college is what all my hard work has amounted to and I couldn’t be happier.” -Matthew Ahl, Soccer at Rhodes College

“I think Trinity has defi nitely prepared me in just being able to balance schoolwork and athletics, also with high school sports and club sports. I think these skills will help out pretty similarly in college.” -JJ Stein, Soccer at Haverford College

OUTWEIGHING THE OBSTACLES

Weightlifting team overcomes adversity in the postseason

Article by David Hull Photo Courtesy of Chi Rho

Following a successful regular season with a record of 6-2, the boys weightlifting team faced several challenges heading into districts, including the u and other illnesses. Despite these obstacles, the team still performed well, nishing with four district champions.

Junior Boaz Kim competed in the bench and clean and jerk, placing rst in the district for the 154 weight class, putting up a 230-pound bench press and 185-pound clean and jerk. Kim stated that he was con dent from the start, expecting to perform well.

“I had already looked at a lot of the numbers from the other teams that we matched up against, and my numbers were a lot higher than theirs,” Kim said. “I was con dent in myself enough to place rst.” e team also found success in the snatch, a new event added this year, with three district champions including junior Anthony Miceli. Miceli won his weight class, but like many other lifters, he originally wasn’t sure about participating in the new lift and only started a couple of months ago.

Even though the event was optional, head coach Isiah Cabal had all lifters participate in the snatch throughout the season, unlike the majority Junior Boaz Kim benches 235 pounds, winning his weight class during of other schools. Miceli said the the Citris League Championship on March 9. coaches did a great job teaching the lift and led him to compete in the event in districts.

“ e coaches really a ected me,” Miceli said. “ ey did a great job specifying the workouts for the snatch, and they did a really good job helping teach us what to do to warm up.” Despite nding success in the snatch, the team also faced many challenges including illness. During the month of April, a strand of the u spread around campus. Multiple lifters, including junior Jackson Salinas, were out sick during the district meet and therefore did not have the opportunity to qualify for regionals or states. Kim often practiced alongside Salinas, saying that they often pushed each other to do better. “His numbers were state level,” Kim said. “I think he would have had a lot of success against the lifters in his weight class and easily gone to states, so it really sucks to see that his season had to be cut short.” Salinas’ numbers were outstanding for the 169 weight class and would have guaranteed him the district title. His total of the two lifts was 500 pounds, the rst place lifter in districts total was 465. Salinas was well aware of his numbers and frustrated with his inability to compete. “I was super disappointed and so upset,” Salinas said. “It was a perfect situation going into districts but then everything happened and it all fell apart.” Before being noti ed of all the sick lifters, Cabal believed the team had a good shot at winning districts. “We had a lot of really strong guys that all progressed really well,” Cabal said. “ I thought we were going to have at least four, maybe ve, district champs at least, and then we started getting the emails that our students got the u.” Besides facing the u, the team also went through another traumatic experience when junior lifter Safwan Zaman was temporarily paralyzed. Salinas said that the team rallied around him and dedicated the season to him. After seeing multiple contributors out with the u and Zaman’s injury, Cabal said that it showed nothing should be taken for granted. “You can only control the things you can control,” Cabal said. “We’re really fortunate to have multiple lifters at every weight class. I hope the takeaway for anyone who is seeing that is, nothing’s guaranteed. You can’t rely on what will happen next year, because you never know.”