Popping pills without regret
Drug waste? Not my problem
Door Rob van der Wal
By Rob van der Wal
Rob van der Wal
On 15 December, 2023, approximately a hundred blue jerrycans had been dumped at the Euvelgunnerweg, the industrial site on the east side of the city. They contained chemicals used to manufacture synthetic drugs such as MDMA and amphetamines.
If these containers start leaking, their contents will kill pretty much all plant and animal life in the vicinity. Getting rid of the waste is expensive: cleaning easily costs at least 10,000 euros. These dumps happen approximately two hundred times a year, costing society a lot of money.
Not to mention the criminal activity behind the manufacturing of drugs: between 2016 and 2021, approximately fifty-seven people were murdered as part of organised crime. Approximately 80 percent of those murders were linked to the drug trade, especially of cocaine.
Not that bothered
Students are regular consumers of those drugs. A 2023 Trimbos study showed that more than half of students in the country occasionally use narcotics. A recent Groningen survey done by students even showed that here, it amounts to two thirds of students, although the researchers noted that people who do use drugs were more likely to fill out the survey than students who don’t.
I don’t think about it much; I feel kind of bad now
Most of these students are perfectly aware of the criminal activity that makes these drugs available: two thirds of the respondents to the Groningen survey said so. Yet only 30 percent said this awareness has made them take fewer drugs.
‘I don’t think students are all that bothered by it’, confirms law bachelor student Tim, who will occasionally take a pill, for instance when he’s at a festival. ‘I don’t think about it too much, myself. I kind of feel bad about that now.’
Austrian exchange student Jonah takes LSD or other psychedelic drugs every few months. He was already aware of the criminal activity behind drugs, but didn’t know about the dumping issue. Nevertheless, he’s able to put both issues into perspective. ‘I hope the amounts I use are so small that they might not have a real impact.’
Then and there
It’s not very surprising that students don’t fret too much about the societal consequences of their drug use. ‘After all, using drugs is meant to make you feel good right then and there’, says Wouter Kiekens. He is an assistant professor of sociology and studies drug use, among other things. ‘When you’re using, any goals you might have for the future or any concerns about drug waste become much less important.’ Important to note is that this applies to all drug users, not just young people.
One particular drawback is that there is no alternative for the pollution and criminal activity as a result of drugs, says Arne van den Bos. He is a drug researcher with research group Addiction Studies, put together by the Hanze University of Applied Sciences and VNN, the addiction care centre for the north of the Netherlands. ‘Psychological studies have shown that people need an actionable alternative in order to effectively apply any knowledge they learned, for instance on the criminal consequences of drug use.’
In other words: people need a viable alternative for popping a pill. ‘But unlike the certificate for organic produce, there is no certificate that guarantees crime-free drugs.’
Shirk responsibility
Van den Bos also says many students simply aren’t concerned with the criminal world behind drugs. ‘Very few of them ever come into contact with drug violence.’ That makes it easy for them to shirk personal responsibility.
There’s no certificate that guarantees crime-free drugs
‘I think the criminals, not the users, should take the blame for the drug problem’, says Tim. ‘They’re the ones doing the dumping, so it’s technically their responsibility. Then again, there are no proper dumping options. Perhaps that’s something the government should take care of.’
UMCG PhD candidate Anne agrees with him. She feels the government has an important role to play when it comes to the criminal drug industry. ‘I’m also not a regular coke user, so I don’t feel guilty.’
Normalised
As the Groningen survey shows, drug use among students is completely normalised. Approximately 61 percent of respondents say that students openly talk about their drug use, and 41 percent have witnessed drug use.
‘When I was a student, people would simply invite me over for a joint after a night out’, says PhD candidate Lars. ‘I openly talk about hard drugs with my friends and acquaintances. Although I don’t talk about any of it with my girlfriend or in-laws.’
Van den Bos can explain the normalisation of drug use among students: ‘Your student days are a peculiar time in your life. Most people move to a different city and meet new people. It leaves them susceptible to accepting new norms and values. If they’re introduced to drugs early on, for instance during the KEI week, it’s easy for them to incorporate that into their lives.’
Snorting, not shooting
However, the normalisation of drug use isn’t universal. ‘It tends to happen within a certain bubble’, says Van den Bos. ‘There is a hard limit; few students talk about it with their parents, for instance.’
Dealers are like delivery drivers, they even have menus
Not all drug use is normalised equally, Van den Bos concluded from his own 2022 study. ‘The way the drugs are taken is very important. Snorting is much more normalised than smoking crack or shooting heroin. Students tend to associate that with junkies and needles.’ That particular image deters students.
The normalisation of drug use is also tied to the fact that they’re easy to acquire, says Van den Bos. ‘People used to have to deal with criminals in order to get drugs.’ These days, drugs can be ordered online, through apps like Telegram. ‘Dealers are like delivery drivers these days. They even have menus’, he says. Approximately 40 percent of the drug-using students who answered the survey said this is how they get their drugs. Half of respondents just buy from their friends.
Status
So how can we make students act more responsibly when it comes to drugs? Simply providing information about the consequences of drug use only has a limited effect, Kiekens acknowledges. ‘But there are other methods of intervention’, he says. ‘It requires someone that has a certain status within a group.’ If this person changes their drug habits, there’s a good chance the rest of the group will follow.
‘Take a student association like Vindicat, for instance, which has a fairly strict hierarchy’, says Kiekens. ‘If someone who’s higher up changes their drug habits because of the effects on society, that could definitely have an impact.’
Now that Jonah is aware of the consequences his occasional pill carries, a seed has been planted in his mind. ‘Everyone has the same responsibility’, he says. ‘The drug user, the dealer and also the government, who should provide locations to get rid of the waste. This might be in my head the next time I take a pill.’
The names Tim, Jonah, Anne, and Lars are pseudonyms. The interviewees’ real names are known to the editorial staff.
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Internationals feel free to experiment in drug paradise Groningen