(Comments by students in Austria)
A huge difference between the US and the European society is the fact that there are in some states different laws concerning soft drugs like Marijuana. In Switzerland and the Netherlands for example it is legal to consume it. This leads to the fact that punishment for drug crimes is also different. In Western Europe the death penalty doesn’t exist at all.
Austria doesn’t have such a big problem with drugs yet but since Austria is a member of the EU and the borders are opening to eastern countries as well, the number of dealers and drug addicts are increasing.
This film makes clear that the War on Drugs is a war, a civil war, with real casualties, real prisoners and it isn’t very easy to treat this subject.
In Europe, there is a drug problem as well, but as we have so many different countries and cultures, it varies from country to country. The highest number of consumers are in Spain, Italy, Luxemburg and the UK, with the lowest consumption being in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Finland. So we have differences between countries but it is a goal of Europe to fight against this problem. But my impression is that in America the drug problem is on a higher stage and also the use of weapons and the violence factor,
I do not think that the situation in Europe, especially Austria, is different. Austria is much smaller and not that interesting for big drug bosses to operate in. Although it would be a good base for the distribution around Europe because of its location, we do not know what is really going on. I think we also often close our eyes from the obvious to protect our home. We feel quite safe in Austria and are unaware of the problems close to us. Everyone has a different view of what drugs are. For some only hard drugs are dangerous and for example smoking pot is not, however it must be the majority of people who only see hard drugs as a danger for society as according to a study every second person in Austria has at least once tried smoking Marijuana. Besides, how does alcohol fit into the picture? The new trend with teenagers is speed drinking The government is acting against this trend by even putting spots on TV telling the teens not to drink them into coma. This problem is even bigger in Austria than people taking drugs. We should ask why people actually take drugs. There must be something wrong with our society.