TREATMENT PROGRAMS ALONE CANNOT STOP DRUG ADDICTION

Drug treatment instead of incarceration won't lessen Hawai'i's drug
problems. Hawai'i's biggest drug problem is that the state doesn't recognize
the existence of a problem. The state's in denial.

Recent commentaries have argued for a simplistic solution: Send drug
offenders to treatment programs instead of prison.

For instance, on July 17 Peter Gellatly opines that treatment costs half of
what is spent to keep addicts in prison. Gosh, we can cure the addicts, cut
taxes and free prison beds for the really bad people.

Sounds good. Unfortunately, treatment isn't the solution. Most addicts don't
want to change. To want change, addicts need to have their butts kicked -
hard and to death's door in most cases. Only then can they accept the idea
that maybe, just maybe, they are the problem, not the cops, demanding
bosses, nagging spouses and lovers, greedy landlords, meddling Child
Protective Services harpies, threatening loan sharks and heartless pushers.

Addicts don't decide to clean up to save jobs, families, expensive stuff and
friendships. Addicts place drugs above everything. It's especially hard for
loved ones to accept that drug pushers, not them, are the most important
people in addicts' lives.

My solution is simple: Families, friends, lovers and employers must slam the
door on addicts. We must stop enabling addicts by providing soft landings
when they crash. That only encourages addicts to continue using because the
consequences aren't bad enough to change.

It is far crueler to prevent the butt kickings that lead to change. There is
no guarantee that addicts will volunteer for treatment. Nor is it guaranteed
that addicts who complete treatment live happily ever after. Treatment is
just the first step in recovery.

Addiction is persistent and never cured.

All it takes is one hit. Few addicts stay clean after the first time in
treatment. To keep addiction in remission, recovery has to be a lifetime
pursuit, not just a round of in-patient treatment.

Addicts do stop using drugs without treatment, usually when circumstances
deprive them of drugs or to keep people off their backs.

The crucial question is: Can addicts stay stopped? A few can, through white
knuckled will power.

Others can through "want" power, fueled by memories of active addiction's
horrors. The best chances seems to lie in a lifetime of daily after care
that leads to a new attitude and outlook upon life. Many do that through a
12-step program. Others do it though religion.

We can juggle prison money with treatment programs. We can appoint blue
ribbon boards to rubber stamp policies recommended by treatment
professionals. And we can try to soften the blows for those poor souls who
seem to have been born cursed.

Yet, nothing meaningful seems to happen until addicts' wrists feel the pinch
of handcuffs. At that moment, the drug problem becomes real and denial
disappears.

Patrick Moser is a resident of Mililani.