Destroying a Life... Drug Addiction Is a "Disease"

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition – December 5, 1998

A boy who had been physically abused as a child by his alcoholic father endured it with patience. He joined a swimming school and worked hard, aspiring to become a competitive swimmer. However, after entering high school, he began receiving late-night invitations from friends to hang out at arcades. Unable to say no, he also began drinking and smoking.

He discovered a world more exciting than school or swimming, and began to look forward to the nights. Before he realized it, he started sniffing paint thinner, and eventually turned to stimulants to stay awake and keep partying.

Encouraged by his homeroom teacher, he went to see a psychiatrist. But he was diagnosed with drug dependence, as he would take a week's worth of medication in a single day. Eventually, no clinic would prescribe him medicine, and in the end, stimulants and alcohol left him physically and mentally wrecked.

The movie The Basketball Diaries (1995) is based on a true story, portraying the dark side of American society, where youths fall into the grip of drugs.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a high school basketball player. What begins as minor mischief leads to delinquency, then escalates to stimulant addiction, and eventually robbery to fund his drug use.

A middle-aged Black man he met through basketball takes him in. As the boy suffers through withdrawal symptoms, he clings to the man, who patiently supports him. The horror of drug addiction and the intense suffering of withdrawal are depicted with striking realism. The film leaves a double sorrow—it makes one wonder if America is so afflicted that it must enlist a major star like Leo in anti-drug campaigns.

According to the White Paper on Crime, last year saw a sharp rise in juvenile robberies and an increase in arrests for violations of the Stimulants Control Act.

Drug addiction tends to increase as society becomes more sickened, yet it is often not viewed as a disease. However, like binge eating, it is a harmful way of coping with stress. It should be clearly recognized as an illness, and those affected should be encouraged to seek help at drug treatment facilities. After all, it is the irreplaceable life of a single human being that is being destroyed.