No, ‘Euphoria’ is Not Glorifying Drug Abuse
The long-awaited second season of Euphoria premiered on January 9th, 2022. Since then, the HBO Max original has been consistently in the news. With a mix of praise and criticism, it has been making headlines each week. I want to talk about the most recent criticism.
D.A.R.E is an educational program targeted towards educating the youth on drug abuse resistance. I am a senior in college and this program has been present in my life for as long as I can remember. It was and remains to be one of the most useless programs that aim to keep kids off drugs.
On February 8th D.A.R.E told NBC News, “Euphoria” “chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world."
This statement was made immediately after the fourth episode aired and it upset a lot of viewers. D.A.R.E received immense backlash the following week after the fifth episode aired. This specific episode is a really heavy episode to watch and frankly does the opposite of glorifying drug use and addiction among teenagers.
Zendaya, who plays the teenager struggling with addiction, recently responded to these claims. She said, “If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”
As somebody who has witnessed many forms of addiction first hand, I could not agree more with what Zendaya said. Euphoria is for mature audiences and offers a raw look into the reality behind addiction, depression, and violence, along with the repercussions that follow.
Many series that feature addiction focus on the life that follows a family who grew up with an addicted family member, or it follows the life of a recovering addict. Euphoria took a different approach when looking at addiction. They started the story with the beginning phases of an addict and doesn't mask the reality of what that looks like for the individual, their family, and their friends.
The realities of drug abuse and addiction are terrifying and to highlight that in a TV show isn’t glorification, it is raw and truthful. Viewers are either watching this and connecting on a highly personal level, or they are watching and are finally seeing the dark reality behind drug abuse.
The youth needs to be educated on drug abuse and addiction, not on resistance. Younger generations are not easily convinced, the deception of reality is one of the few ways they can be reached. Additionally, education on the reality behind addiction is likely to make individuals more compassionate and understanding towards the addicts in their life.
