DRUG ADDICTION AN ILLNESS, NOT A CRIME

Tatum O'Neal, the Oscar-winning actress, took a plea deal last week
stemming from her June 1 arrest while supposedly trying to score some
crack cocaine on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was initially
charged with possession of a controlled substance and faced a year in
prison if convicted. The court allowed her to plead out to a
disorderly conduct charge and ordered her to attend two half-day drug
treatment sessions. If she follows the court's orders, the cocaine
possession charges will be dismissed.

O'Neal has been open about her history of heroin addiction as outlined
in her memoir, "A Paper Life." When she was arrested by undercover
officers, they searched her and found two bags of cocaine along with
an unused crack pipe. She had initially told police she was doing
research for an acting role. Then she changed her story and told them
that the death of her 16-year-old dog nearly triggered her into relapse.

Some say O'Neal was treated with a slap on the wrist. Others say she
did not deserve to do any jail time because of her addiction. This
raises a critical question that we as a society need to address.
Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter, or as a medical
problem?

For most people, treatment is a much more effective approach than
imprisonment for successfully breaking their addictions, yet our
prisons are full of individuals whose only crime is their drug addiction.

According to Justice Department statistics, the United States has more
prisoners than any country in the world, 2.5 million and rising. In
2006, the Justice Department recorded the largest increase since 2000
in the number of people in prisons and jails. Criminal justice experts
attribute the exploding prison population to harsh sentencing laws and
record numbers of drug law violators entering the system, many of whom
have substance abuse problems.

Nonviolent drug offenders like Tatum O'Neal should be given an
opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time, for their drug use.
This would be a more effective (not to mention much more affordable)
solution for both the individual and the community. Prosecutors in
many states, most notably New York, have leeway to recommend a
defendant to treatment instead of incarceration. More than likely,
however, they will not do it. This is because it would not be
considered a victory for them. The system does not reward prosecutors
for doing the compassionate thing.

O'Neal can be an example for millions of young people. One can only
hope that her experiences with addiction and the realities of the drug
war will encourage her to join the movement to reform U.S. drug
policy. If she decides to take up the cause of treatment, she could
help change laws across the country. After all, if treatment instead
of jail is good enough for her as she struggles with her addiction,
surely it is good enough for the thousands of others just like her who
struggle with their own substance abuse problems.

Like depression, addiction affects tens of millions of Americans. How
best to treat it is a serious a question we need to explore. Rich or
poor, young or old, addiction has no boundaries. But the drug war
does. Our long war on drugs has stifled the open debate society should
be having about the nature of addiction and how best to deal with it.
It is time to treat addiction for what it is -- a medical problem, not
a criminal one.