JAIL IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR ROBERT DOWNEY JR.,
WHO MUST CONTROL HIS OWN FATE

Robert Downey Jr. is in trouble again, having been arrested last week
in Culver City, Calf., on drug offenses.

The arrest came less than a week before Downey's scheduled court
hearing from his arrest last November in Palm Springs, Calf., on
charges of possessing small amounts of cocaine and diazepam and for
being under their influence.

"Rehab Not Jail" is the motto of a nationwide movement that has
adopted Downey as its de facto poster boy. It favors court-ordered
rehabilitation instead of prison for non-violent drug users.

California's Proposition 36, which implements this viewpoint and which
may allow Downey himself to avoid prison, is counted among the
movement's successes. It is, however, no solution.

Morally, it fails to respect the rights of nonviolent drug users.
Practically, it is a disaster because of the false premise underlying
most state-certified rehab programs.

The pro rehab movement correctly argues that is is
wrong to imprison nonviolent drug users such as
Downey: They have violated no one's rights. Only
people that commit real crimes--burglary, manslaughter,
rape and such--deserve criminal punishment of any kind,
let alone multiyear incarceration.

But the movement contradicts itself. According to the principal of
individual rights, government may not infringe with one's pursuit of
his own happiness, whether his choice is right or wrong, so long as he
does not infringe on the rights of others. For the same reason that
it is unjust in imprison Downey, it is unjust to force him--or any
nonviolent drug user--to attend a state-approved rehab program.

Mandatory rehab is not only immoral, it is also impractical. Rehab
programs don't work. Studies show that, on average, drug users fare
no better with rehab than without it; either way, nearly half of who
try to quit relapse. Most certified rehab providers advocate the
disease model of addiction. They believe that drug users are, for
physiological reasons, incapable of controlling their drug use.

Despite any genetic predispositions or drug-induced physical cravings,
the fact remains that human beings have free will. Addiction,
therefore, is a choice. A drug user can resist the pull of his old
habit, even if this takes a great struggle. The best evidence that
people can choose to quit using drugs is that they do so, time and
again, both with and without treatment.

Some formerly heavy drug users even can choose to become social drug
users and use drugs in only moderate quantities. Disease-model
advocates say that such users were not truly addicted. But without a
physiological test that can distinguish true addicts from drug users
who quit, this assertion merely begs the question.

POINTLESS APPROACH

Ironically, even rehab programs based on the disease model focus on
changing the user's way of thinking. Religious, 12-step-style programs
tell users that they have no control and, therefore, must learn to
rely on a higher power; secular programs tell users they must rely on
other people, usually other users. And yet, if drugs were
physiologically irresistible, such an approach would be pointless.

Rehabilitation, like any psychological treatment, must be undertaken
voluntarily if it is to work. Court-ordered rehabilitation is a
contradiction in terms. Even if a convicted user wants rehab, the
court will probably send him to a state certified, disease-model
program that can only hinder his recovery.

Downey's father gave his drugs when he was 6. He is trying to give up
something that has been a part of his life for 30 years. How can he
summon the willpower necessary to do this while being told that drug
use is something over which he has no control?

The only moral outcome for Downeywould be dismissal of his case. The
since of efficacy and happiness that Downey must get from his
superlative acting work will not guarantee that he will resolve his
problems; that is up to him. But to deprive him of efficacy and
happiness he gets from acting when he faces such a difficult struggle
would be criminal.