Another issue commonly raised in studies over the relaxed consumption of alcohol is that it acts as the first step towards more serious drug use. In Vanessa Lee’s study: ‘Alcohol, the Gateway Drug?,’ she raises the point that while alcohol is not generally regarded as a major social problem in Singapore many older people get hooked on alcohol and develop a dependence on drinking as a way to relax.
Since alcohol is a socially accepted drug (that is legal), it is often the first thing people turn to when looking to escape their problems. Some alcoholics are likewise being classified as ‘high functioning addicts’ who are working and going about their other commitments normally whilst, for example, finishing up to two bottles of whiskey per day. Fortunately, there is an increasing number of alcoholics seeking treatment for addiction.
As people start to rely on alcohol as an escape mechanism, it becomes increasingly easy to include other drug use into the routine. Perhaps this is because of the person’s need to increase the intensity of the substance he or she is using, or because of alcohol’s ability to alter and intensify other drugs, or even to cushion the withdrawal symptoms associated with them. In Lee’s study, she states that “dual addiction to alcohol and other drugs is fairly common.”
Dual addiction, which is also referred to as dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder describes a person with an addiction to more than one substance or a substance addiction combined with a psychological disorder such as depression or anxiety. These dual-diagnosis cases are harder to treat since the psychological disorder needs to be treated alongside the addictions