Kind of puts substance abuse in perspective

Sorry, no cigarettes or alcohol, trapped miners told

I thought this story was interesting. So you've got a group of miners trapped underground. They've been trapped for four weeks and probably won't get out for several months. 

What are they requesting? Alcohol and cigarettes.

Why? "To help them cope."

The reason I find this story interesting is that it goes to show how psychologically complex the issue of substance use is. After four weeks of being off cigarettes and booze, I'd assume any withdrawal symptoms or physical dependency issues would be next to nothing.

In addition, one would think that with the physiological addiction mostly out of the way that their minds would be more focused on their present situation than on having a cigarette or glass of wine. You'd almost expect a 'if I make it out of this alive, I'm going to start living healthy' attitude.

 

And yet... booze and cigarettes were what they requested. 

 

Not a steak dinner. Not books. Not an iPod. (although to be fair, perhaps they have been given those things, the story doesn't say).

We often see substance use as a choice - that people can easily take it or leave.

But it's stories like this that really show just how complex substance use really is.

It shows that even after the physical withdrawal has passed, even in a life or death situation where the last thing one would think you'd be thinking about is booze or cigarettes, that substance use is what was on these miner's minds in an effort (I'm assuming) to self medicate and cope with the stress of their situation.

Kudos to the Ottawa Citizen for doing a story like this because, while it on the surface it's easy to mistake it as a basic 'human interest' story, it actually is making a significant and salient point about how complex the role of substance use is in modern society.