None by itself provides complete understanding of the world of drug use and abuse. It is useful to understand the following models.
1) The moral – legal model
2) The disease or public model
3) The psychosocial model
4) The socio – cultural model
The first two models of drug use operate on the premise that the answer to drug abuse problems is to keep drugs away from man. In these two models drugs are classified as either safe or dangerous. ‘Dangerous’ includes not only drugs that are physically dangerous but also those that are not socially or legally sanctioned. Drugs are the active ingredient; people are the deviant victims who must be protected. Protection comes in the form of legal controls on cultivation, manufacture, distribution, or possession. The deterrents are punishment or fear of harm. The major difference between the legal – moral and the disease or public health model is that the latter dwells less on legality of the substance and more on its potential harm.
The other two models, the psychosocial model and the socio – cultural model, operate from the premise that the object is to keep man away from drugs. The psychosocial model tends to put more emphasis on the individual rather than on the substance as the active agent. Drug use is seen as another behaviour that persists in order to serve some purpose for the individual. This model makes some important distinctions among different use patterns, attitudes, and behaviours.
The fourth model is the social – cultural model which views drug use and the problems associated with drug abuse from the social context, emphasizing environmental and socio – economic conditions. Poverty, poor housing, discrimination, lack of opportunity, urbanizing, etc, all are seen as the breeding ground of the personal factors, which ultimately lead to drug use.
In each model, the tactics or information designed to reduce drug are slanted toward the specific philosophical bias of the model. The tactic may be punishment, control, threat, reduction of need, or restructuring of the environment. Each model defines the goals of specific attempts to influence drug use. It is very important to realize the place and importance of each model, to be able to put together a composite picture of drug use and abuse.
Mark O Irabor is a Science Technologist in the Biomedical Communication Centre of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, charged with responsibility of Enhancing Clinical Teaching, Research and Training.
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