California Prop 5: Addiction Treatment or Get out of Jail Free Card?
Hear all the buzz around Prop 5? Addiction is a disease; treat it, don't punish it. Treatment saves money and lives. Addicts are sick, not bad people. Drug dealers are criminals killing our children and need to be behind bars. Letting dealers off the hook with lighter sentences is not the answer.
Political rhetoric aside there are certain inalienable truths about addiction, treatment and recovery. Addiction IS a disease. It is treatable. Most of those needing treatment don't get it (the why's are for another blog post). Intervention, treatment and recovery save lives and money. But, drug dealers are criminals. Their product kills. Many are not addicts themselves; they are just "business people." Drunk drivers are criminals. Their actions kill. Are they the same? Should they receive the same punishment? Should they be punished at all?
Better question . . . Why do families wait until this point? Why hasn't someone close to the addict gotten professional help for this DISEASE long before the criminal charges start piling up? Try this on for size . . . if someone had taken the time, effort and interest to intervene professionally, gotten the help they and their loved one needed the criminal charges could have been avoided altogether in most situations. Does intervention save lives? Absolutely. Does it save money??? ABSOLUTELY. Does it save things money can't buy? ABSOLUTELY to the n'th power!!!
There are good, well-reasoned arguments on both sides of the Prop 5 debate. But, isn't a better solution one where families seek professional help themselves and intervene rather than waiting for the police and courts to do so?
You will have the opportunity to voice your opinion in the ballot box soon. Until then, care to let us know what you think here??
Political rhetoric aside there are certain inalienable truths about addiction, treatment and recovery. Addiction IS a disease. It is treatable. Most of those needing treatment don't get it (the why's are for another blog post). Intervention, treatment and recovery save lives and money. But, drug dealers are criminals. Their product kills. Many are not addicts themselves; they are just "business people." Drunk drivers are criminals. Their actions kill. Are they the same? Should they receive the same punishment? Should they be punished at all?
Better question . . . Why do families wait until this point? Why hasn't someone close to the addict gotten professional help for this DISEASE long before the criminal charges start piling up? Try this on for size . . . if someone had taken the time, effort and interest to intervene professionally, gotten the help they and their loved one needed the criminal charges could have been avoided altogether in most situations. Does intervention save lives? Absolutely. Does it save money??? ABSOLUTELY. Does it save things money can't buy? ABSOLUTELY to the n'th power!!!
There are good, well-reasoned arguments on both sides of the Prop 5 debate. But, isn't a better solution one where families seek professional help themselves and intervene rather than waiting for the police and courts to do so?
You will have the opportunity to voice your opinion in the ballot box soon. Until then, care to let us know what you think here??
Labels: Addiction, Family Intervention, family recovery, Intervention
posted by Alice Tanner at
9:42 AM
3 Comments:
I feel that if addictions can be caught early there is help-for some intervention later can be helpful but it is a very long and painful process.
More needs to be done to the dealers, they are the criminals and enablers in these situations. Why go work and make an honest living when you can be corrupt, stay at home, not pay taxes, look cool in the eyes of the young and not receive harsh punishment if caught.
While addicts need help to control their addictions, the dealers and suppliers do not-more needs to be done with them to limit or stop addiction substances.
While Prop 5 might be helpful to the youth in helping them with addiction problems, many others will still go without help because a family member, friend, or others identify that child has an issue will not step in to help them. People as a whole need to step up when a addict can be identified and get them the best possible help to stop the cycle.
Proposition 5 follows in the tradition of California ballot measures lined with good intentions and stuffed with disaster. It lures voters with a comforting mirage: a revamped and rational policy for treating drug addiction as an illness and confronting it through rehabilitation instead of punishment. But that's not what it would deliver. If it passes, Californians would soon learn that they had swept away the state's few successful diversion programs, inflicted chaos on the parole system, layered on a staggering new bureaucracy and set back the cause of modernizing drug treatment.
----------------------
jillcatrina
Advisor
You are not quite missing the point but sidestepping it a bit. It is not about drug dealers so much as it is about addicts that commit crimes. I'm talking about the people that rob people just to get a measly amount of money to get their next drug fix. Often times these people no longer have loved ones that they are close with, or any sort of potential support structure. The people I am talking about mostly associate only with other people like themselves. So no one in that group of people is going to head up an intervention. I personally think that many addicts that are behind bars should be "sentenced" to a treatment facility instead of a prison. Or in some cases depending on the crime (violent/non-violent) they should be sent to a drug rehab before they are sent to prison. This is a cause and effect situation. You have to treat the problem, and not just address the result of the problem - in this case crime. Normal people go astray fast when drugs get involved. Such as I mentioned when people rob people just to get money for the drug they are addicted to. If you were able to rid them of their addiction they likely would not be robbing people. Adequate treatment for addicts is key to a functioning society. For more information on addiction treatment check out http://www.CAREflorida.com
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home