Superheroes position about drugs [closed]

Question

We often see superheroes confronting drug dealers and their henchmen, after all, drug use and commercialization in most countries is considered illegal. However, there is a growing current of thought that the best approach to drugs is to treat it as a public health problem rather than public safety because of its cost and impact on the safety of society.

Superheroes are often described as progressive as they tend to believe in human rights, peace, and social responsibility. Based on this premise, would not a superhero take a more political stance than fighting drugs? Wouldn't they rather pressure the government for drug liberalization rather than fight drug dealers in the streets as they usually do in different media?

Answer 1

Superheroes are not perfect. If they were their stories would be rather uninteresting. This issue is one where different superheroes would likely have different opinions and take different stances. Perhaps the conflict of opinions can lead to a very interesting story. In fact, in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (part two), it's the political differences between Superman and Batman that lead to the "final showdown" - they're friends who don't want to fight each other, even actively avoiding the fight for some of the film, but their opinion on the role of government and their personal morality creates a situation where they have to fight. This makes the Batman v Superman fight so thrilling and engaging (unlike that other movie).

So are you being manipulated by the government to do evil? Is attacking crime, even if it comes from a broken place still good? Are you a puppet? These are questions superheroes must wrestle with - and that's the foundation for a great story!

Some opinions superheroes might have on this issue include:

• Public perception - although we might feel bad for those drug addicted, "cleaning up the streets" often improves economies, makes people feel safer in their homes, etc. Even though people in theory want those with drug issues to "get help", they don't want "those people" to be seen or heard. The attitude in many cases is "go away from me and get help". So a superhero might see themselves as giving them an ultimatum: stop causing problems for society and get help, or I'll be there to enforce the law. This helps public confidence in society to grow.
• I don't make the laws, I just enforce them. Something like Superman's "it's their world" mentality. Just because you have powers doesn't mean you can defy the government. Railroad companies in the second industrial revolution proved that: having the ability to defy the government doesn't necessarily give you the right to do so. Is it more wrong to do drugs or to defy the government? To enforce a stupid law, or to break social trust in those making the laws?
• I'll only go after dealers Sympathy is for the user, not the dealers and drug lords. Some superheros would only go after targets "higher up" in the food chain, not the purchasers.
• Defiance - refuse to enforce such laws, either quietly or loudly (ie "don't talk about it" versus "talk about it to news cameras" - both have their pros and cons).
• Get Political - recruit other superheroes to their position, use their fame to raise money for treatment plans (like many celebrities do), or so on.

There are many more approaches, but it all depends on the character of your superhero, and the world they are in.

In short, use this conflict in your story!

Answer 2

There are two answers here, an in-universe one and a real-world one.

In-universe, it's simply that one does not go into the superhero business unless one is a self-righteous prig - someone who thinks s/he is superior to others, and so has an inherent right to tell them how to live. Not something limited to superheroes (though they perhaps have more justification than most): it's common to politicians, religious figures, self-help gurus, nosy neighbors, etc. etc.

In the real world, it's just commercial reality. Superheroes got their start in comic books, which faced a LOT of social disapproval. If they hadn't bought into the anti-drug message (and other societal "goods"), they'd have faced even more, and likely would have been driven out of business.

Answer 3

Drug crimes are always surrounded by others. To make any illegal business one would come to terror and/or murders or god knows what else.

Superheroes fight for justice against evil, "illegality". Drugs here are just a casus belli, not the essence of a war itself.

So, no superheroes would leave politics for politics (but may combine this two activities as Daredevil do/did), and do what can't be done by non-supers and hon-heroes. Specialisation, you know.