An excellent article - yet again highlighting the universal problem of drugs.  Certainly, Spain is beset with a frighteningly serious drug problem.

Last year I wrote, as an investigative journalist, an article called ‘Hooked’ http://www.nicholassnelling.com/HOOKED_SPAINS_WAR_AGAINST_DRUGS.pdf which looked at the drug problem in Spain.  This involved research that was both surprising and salutary.

Time and again when interviewing professionals in the drug industry (psychologists, aid workers etc.) I heard the same story.  It was one that took me aback as it showed the scale of the drug problem that exists not just in Spain but also throughout Western countries.

Every professional I met said that the problem of drug taking stemmed from a profoundly disturbing, reasonably new, cultural flaw.  This can be encapsulated as an universal desire for ‘instant gratification’.  By this, they meant that current generations are unlike those of the past who worked long years before being able to obtain a better way of life (often a comfortable retirement) or new material possessions.  Now, the professionals state, people want (and expect!) everything straightaway whether it is a new car, home or pleasure.

Drugs, of course, provide ‘instant gratification’ perfectly.  Indeed, they are almost a perfect extension of Western society’s new philosophy of absolute individual impatience combined with an expectation of immediate and effortless pleasure.

The worrying thing about the professional’s assessment is the appalling difficulty of the solution.  This is because, almost certainly, it does not revolve around stopping the distribution of drugs – which in any event is virtually impossible. 

In fact, the solution, it seems, centres on re-aligning Western society’s philosophy of life.  In other words, to stop drug taking, it is necessary to return to a culture that does not expect pleasure right now ‘as of right’.  This, of course, is a mind boggling concept but one that has the frighteningly hard edge of truth. 

But how do you change the philosophy of society - let alone ones that have just spent the past ten years borrowing wildly to obtain houses and cars etc. that really they could never afford.  The problem is endemic, profound and parallels exactly the taking of drugs.

Of course, we must warn against certain lethal drugs.  However, all the professionals I spoke to stated the same thing: ‘do not take any drugs at all whatever they are’.  If you want to enjoy yourself then do something – make an effort to do something tangible – and the rewards will be greater than any drug taking.

It is no co-incidence that the remedial work of the addiction teams often revolve around taking recovering addicts out into the countryside for activities both social and physical.  The aim is show that you can enjoy life without drugs. 

However, how can we get society out and doing again with values that seem to have passed into history?  This is a conundrum of terrifying proportions - particularly now that we all live in an overwhelmingly urban society seemingly hooked to inactivity (computer games, the television, living life by proxy and getting highs from chemicals).

I fear we need a leader with vision who can persuade us to adopt a more meaningful existence that moves away from the unreality of expecting everything now.  Perhaps the current recession may be a reality check.  

Copyright Nick Snelling (www.nicholassnelling.com) author of three books on Spain including ‘How to Move Safely to Spain’ (www.movesafelytospain.com)