Is it better to put drug addicts in jail or to send them to mandatory drug treatment programs?
Drug addicts are people who have lost their way and cant seem to find a way back, out of their situation. Drugs are such a powerful thing, which is why people get addicted to them in the first place. What starts out as a innocent curiosity can sometimes lead to a women prostituting for more or a man hurting someone to get more drugs. Its a dark and sad place to be addicted to something and people who took the chance to get high off of anything, especially the harder more dangerous drugs, need help. I think drug addicts, to a point, should be given mandatory drug treatment programs. They should have the chance and opportunity to receive help because addiction is a powerful thing. What would you want if you were addicted to meth and you wanted to get sober or you found your health declining rapidly because of it? You would want the chance to get away from it. Everyone should have a chance to get sober and drug treatments can not only help, but provide a safe place for doing so. It can provide the person with the support they need because if you send someone to jail, what do they get out of it? Maybe a little fear? Mostly, they don't get anything from jail because their is no support, no care, nothing to help them, no one to educate them, and it's pretty much a place drug addicts aren't scared of.
There comes a point where I do think jail is necessary. after so many times in treatment, a person just doesn't want to change. I think jail can provide the discipline to make them change, simple because they have no choice and they cant leave when they want like in rehab. I am thankful I never got into drugs. I have seen people die from it, my cousin actually. He was only 26 years old. People should have the opportunity to get sober. Once that has passed and they still keep doing it, it becomes a discipline problem and jail is the place for poor decisions. I truly believe people want to change, I just don't think they should be given 4 opportunities in rehab to so.
Sara Abbasi
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote a really great blog. I agree that people should be given a chance to change. I think that people should be given chances to become a better person. It’s a hard topic because some people end up in rehab, have a relapse a few years later and end up there again and it goes on and on. It’s hard to decide if people should be given more chances through all of these relapses. I don’t think that it would be good for someone to stay off of drugs for 15 years, have a relapse and end up in jail because of it. But at the same time, what if they hurt somebody else because of it? I have no idea how many chances a person should get before they end up in jail. But I think people that are caught with drugs because they were committing another crime should be put in jail for the other crime and also be required to attend rehab. I don’t know much about prison systems, but if they don’t already have drug counseling, then they should get it to help the people there.
Meghan McGehee
I agree with you that people do deserve a second chance. There is a reason why drug rehabilitation programs exist and it is for that reason. Places such as AA can help a great deal for those suffering from alcoholism. I know someone who suffered from it and went to AA and has been sober for years. It really does help when one has the education and peer support to help them stop. Jail doesn't give that.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Petersen
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI agree that prison is currently not a proper place for drug addicts to be placed for thier first offense. Meghan makes a good point that they should be incarcerated if they have commintted a another crime in addition to the drug use. Communication between differnent programs and joint efforts between the government and rehab programs might improve the effectiveness of the programs. Drug addition is so severe we must truly make greater efforts to prevent anyone from trying additive substances in the first place.
Linda