AT FIRST glance, vice vaccines look just great. These injections promise to
inactivate drugs such as cocaine, heroin, speed and nicotine in the bloodstream
before they reach the brain. Without the 鈥渉it鈥�, people just won鈥檛 come back for more
(see 鈥淣o more kicks鈥�).
It鈥檚 true that these vaccines are still being developed, so their full risks
and benefits are not yet clear. But all the signs are that for people who are in
danger of overdosing, or for addicts who want to get themselves clean but need
some help to overcome their craving, the vaccines will be immensely
valuable.
But like many new technologies, they also bring difficult choices. Will
convicted criminals who steal to feed their drug habit be allowed back onto the
street if they agree to be vaccinated, for example? Could a judge even compel
these people to be vaccinated?
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Perhaps the most contentious debate that vice vaccines have raised is whether
they should be given routinely to children, like polio or measles vaccines. This
is not a distant worry. No sooner have some researchers published the results of
vaccine trials than they have found themselves inundated with requests from
worried parents who want their children vaccinated. Is this really what we want
for future generatons?
For any society that values personal freedom, the answer has to be no. People
have the right to choose how to behave, whether it鈥檚 good or bad, legal or not.
Let鈥檚 not ignore the fact that millions of people take illicit drugs for
pleasure without becoming addicted. Administering vice vaccines will mean that
youngsters are no longer free to make such choices for themselves. It would be
like a return to Pleasantville.
And, remember, we鈥檙e just talking about illicit drugs here. One vaccine under
development acts against nicotine, and if it鈥檚 nicotine today, why not caffeine
tomorrow? Society鈥檚 attitudes to drugs change. Forty years ago, smoking was
fine. A century ago, American ship operators were giving stevedores cocaine to
speed up their work.
Like it or not, people have been taking mind-altering chemicals since
before recorded history. Each vaccine acts only against a specific drug, and
stopping people getting high on one drug will simply push them to take
others鈥攁s addiction researchers have already found. So drug use won鈥檛 go
away, the drugs will just change.
Opposing the widespread use of vice vaccines for youngsters is not to
advocate drug use. By all means let vice vaccines spark a revolution in detox
clinics. But when it comes to helping children deal with drugs, the way to help
them is through education, ensuring that they can follow lifestyles that are
incompatible with drug taking, and giving them the tools to spot risks and make
informed choices.
The problem of drug abuse is bound up with modern society in complex ways.
Simple chemical solutions are unlikely to provide the whole answer.
