Photos of two heroin users, passed out in a car with a child in the backseat, have been circulating the internet and news outlets for the past few days. Posted on the City of East Liverpool’s Facebook page, moderators of the page added the caption, “We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug.”

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Of course, this sort of parenting is awful (reports confirm that the woman in the car is the child’s mother) –– criminal, even. Drug abuse to this point is reasonably condemned, even by the most ardent legalization advocate. But this sort of hysteria-oriented journalism does drug advocacy efforts a horrible disservice and enables our society to stay rooted in the overcriminalization mentality.

Overcriminalization has not only become our policy norm, but has also blurred the line between drug use and drug abuse. Sensationalized reporting that plays on exceptional cases of abuse and neglect hurts the perception of heroin users, yes, but also extends farther. It places an image (cruel, neglectful parents) next to a concept (drug use), conflating the two. The truth of the matter is that drug use does not look like the image that was circulated, and is often relatively harmless.

I would even go so far as to say that drug use is not inherently bad. Research is being done on MDMA and psilocybin regarding their potential therapeutic uses, especially for treatment of depression and PTSD. These highly stigmatized drugs have the potential to positively impact millions of people who are currently suffering. MDMA can be used to reinvigorate relationships, to stimulate healthy communication, and to bring a greater sense of positivity to the user. Drugs like LSD and psilocybin can be used to enhance creativity, connection, and a sense of gratitude and perspective. Other drugs, like marijuana, hardly need to be talked about in a positive light since everyone from Seth Rogen to Snoop Dogg to my mom is attesting to their harmlessness and value.

Heroin, to many, is a different story, and justifiably so. According to DanceSafe’s drug facts, heroin users report feelings of euphoria, contentedness, and pain relief. But these aren’t the parts discussed in our popular discourse, which tends to fixate on awful elements of heroin use and abuse: reliance, overdose, the horrors of injection delivery, and shared needles. Anyone who’s seen Trainspotting is scared shitless of this drug, and it’s fair to not give it the same PR campaign that we’re giving psilocybin and MDMA.

Although seriously alarming, this photo has vast implications for the way the general public perceives of drug use. Those who circulate this photo might be inclined to thoughtlessly castigate drug users via social media, believing these negligent parents are representative of the whole. Mob mentality social media action rarely amounts to anything good, and most news outlets that have run this story have done so irresponsibly, in a way that conflates drug use with drug abuse.

Instead of succumbing to sensationalism, people shocked and alarmed by this story should focus their efforts on ensuring our justice system will do the best thing for this child. They should not immediately call for greater criminalization of drug use, but think critically about the flip side of criminalization –– prison overcrowding, joblessness, lack of rehabilitation. They should not conflate drug use with drug abuse, but should consider how overcriminalization skews incentives, making it harder for drug abusers to seek help without being locked up in government cages.

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