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The use of cannabis has increased in the corona pandemic (symbol image)
Photo: Aitor Carrera Porté / DEEPOL / plainpicture
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Böckem, in 2015, together with drug researcher Henrik Jungaberle, you published “High Sein”, an educational book about drugs of all kinds. An updated version is published today.
What has changed in the past six years?
Jörg Böckem:
Details have changed, there are new studies and figures.
For example, more young people have experience with cannabis, the WHO has revised its numbers downwards slightly on harmful alcohol consumption, and more countries around the world have decriminalized the possession of cannabis.
SPIEGEL:
And does the corona pandemic have any effects on drug consumption?
Böckem:
Yes, and clearly noticeable.
The Global Drug Survey showed that 43 percent of respondents in the pandemic drink more alcohol.
Cannabis use has also increased.
These results are reflected in the behavior of young people: I have close contact with counseling and prevention centers, from where I hear more and more that young adults are looking for help because of cannabis - or parents who think their children are using it in a questionable manner.
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Alexander Straulino
Jörg Böckem
, born in 1966, is a German journalist and author.
At 18 he became addicted to heroin, had several relapses and was an addict for a total of 20 years.
He has written several autobiographical books about his experiences, the SPIEGEL column “Therapy Diary” and the educational book “High Being”.
SPIEGEL:
Why is there more smoking?
Böckem: There are
various reasons for this.
On the one hand, there are people who try to fill a gap with grass because many things that they did before Corona are no longer possible.
This is a motive especially for young people.
It's a good idea to sit in front of the TV, gamble and smoke weed when you can't meet friends outside.
On the other hand, there is a great incentive to numb the current pressure with psychoactive substances such as cannabis, to regulate the stress.
Mental health problems in lockdown have also increased among young people, while at the same time access to services has become more difficult.
No parties, no reason for party drugs
SPIEGEL:
Clubs are closed, parties are forbidden - places where you would otherwise try cocaine and the like.
How has the pandemic changed initial consumption?
Böckem:
There is no reason for drugs like cocaine or MDMA.
These are substances that are more likely to be used in nightlife and social interaction.
When such opportunities disappear, consumption is reduced.
Young people currently do not spend the night with their friends;
their parents are more at home, social control is greater.
The setting for experiments with such drugs is currently not in place.
SPIEGEL:
“We Children from Zoo Station” has just been adapted as a series.
A clique of young people is accompanied in eight episodes - from hashish to heroin, from heroin to death.
“If you do drugs, then you're dead - it's so clumsy, so bold.
That is of no use to anyone and does not advance the discussion. "
Böckem:
I thought the acting was good, the use of music, the script solved a lot of things well.
Still, I ask myself: Why should I still watch this today?
A series where I already know what's going to happen - who dies, who survives.
Nothing has been learned about the development of addiction, about people's motives, about why some take drugs occasionally and others become dependent.
But maybe that's too much to ask of a TV series.
In any case, in the end a story was told that is forty years old.
From a point of view that is also forty years old.
SPIEGEL:
You yourself were addicted to heroin for years.
Is that why you look so critically at the remake?
Böckem:
There is another reason for this.
I'm involved in addiction prevention, from that point of view the series is a disappointment.
It used to be said: Anyone who starts with cannabis will eventually end up with heroin and die.
This narrative should be daunting.
Nowadays, addiction prevention takes a completely different approach.
It's about education, about imparting knowledge about effects, side effects and risks.
If you do drugs, then you are dead - it's so clumsy, so bold.
In my opinion, this is of no use to anyone and does not advance the discussion.
Unfortunately, the series is designed to cement this cliché.
But I think it is important for us as a society that we break away from it.
Drugs in German rap
SPIEGEL:
Heroin is hardly or not at all consumed by adolescents and young adults today, as the drug report by the Federal Center for Health Education shows.
Interest in the prescription pain reliever tilidine rose sharply among 15 to 20-year-olds between 2017 and 2019.
Böckem:
Tilidine is an opiate, like heroin, with which you can shoot yourself terribly.
The material already existed in my drug career.
Then it was gone for a long time - and is now being rediscovered decades later.
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Title: High Being (NA): An Educational Book
Editor: No & Buts
Number of pages: 320
Author: Jörg Böckem, Henrik Jungaberle
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SPIEGEL:
German rappers like Capital Bra, Samra and Gzuz have tracks in which they rap about the drug.
Is there a connection?
Böckem:
The substances that are popular with young people also have something to do with fashion, it comes in waves and is also linked to triggers and role models.
When hip musicians rap from Tilidin, it naturally has an impact on this wave movement.
SPIEGEL:
So your taste in music determines which drugs you take?
Böckem:
Not exclusively, of course.
But subcultures are often linked to certain substances.
Subculture always has to do with identity formation.
Just like consuming a substance.
With the drug, users also want to set themselves apart from others.
It is the same with music, with friends, with clothes.
They are all building blocks that contribute to the establishment of an identity.
SPIEGEL:
Each subculture has its own substances?
So does it apply: You are what you throw?
"If you look at how difficult the restrictions of the past year are, especially for young people, then I actually expect an increased need to catch up."
Böckem:
At electro festivals like Burning Man, Boom or Fusion Festival, LSD and ecstasy are consumed more, at rock festivals like Rock am Ring or Wacken it is more cigarettes, beer and schnapps, at reggae concerts cannabis.
And Tilidin fits the German rap: It's a pain reliever, makes you less sensitive, hardens you, so to speak.
But of course it's not that simple, these are all rough estimates.
In the past few decades, the clear demarcation has even decreased.
This is due to the fact that youth movements are now highly fragmented - and so is the bond with one substance.
SPIEGEL:
After the end of the restrictions, when clubs can reopen and festivals can take place again, will there be a major backlash - with wild parties and increased drug consumption?
Böckem:
I can only speculate there.
But when you look at how difficult the restrictions of the past year are, especially for young people - understandably - then I actually expect an increased need to catch up.
The pandemic has restricted the availability of some substances, but that too will change again.
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