STIFF DRUG RULES BLOCK RECOVERY

When Programs Help Users, Communities Also Benefit

In Michigan and around the country, we're filling state and federal prisons
as fast as we can build them. Those cells are expensive to build and costly
to maintain. And far too many of them are occupied by nonviolent offenders,
especially drug offenders.

An ideal way to reduce that burden is to break the cycle of drug users'
repeated and costly entanglement in the criminal justice system -- or to
keep them out of the system to begin with.

We can start by reforming the way we treat drug users seeking recovery, who
are currently thwarted by numerous barriers from regaining normal and
productive lives.

People make the choice to experiment with drugs, and that choice is a bad
one. But once addiction takes hold, physical changes in the brain make it
almost impossible for someone to kick the habit without help and
encouragement from outside.

Too often, instead of help, users who want to renounce drugs (or alcohol)
face a range of obstacles, from a lack of treatment options to limited or no
access to school, jobs, health care, housing, welfare and other public
benefits.

Many insurers, for example, place tight limits on the length of time they
will pay for treatment for substance abuse. We don't tell lung cancer
patients they can have seven to 30 days of treatment, and after that they
should "just say no" to the disease. But we routinely expect recovering drug
users to combat the physical and psychological ravages of their disease with
little more than will power.

The majority of Americans with drug or alcohol problems are holding down
jobs. But despite the growing awareness that addiction is a genuine illness,
they have little protection under federal disability law. Employers are
generally free to fire anyone who confesses to a substance abuse problem.
They can refuse to hire applicants who admit to drug use in the past. Such
policies scare many users away from seeking timely help.

For someone convicted of even a minor drug charge, the punitive sanctions
multiply. With the misguided intention of getting tough on drugs, Congress
has passed laws that bar even minor drug offenders from tuition aid, public
housing, food stamps and other benefits.

A young man with a drug possession conviction is denied federal aid not only
for university tuition, but for community college or technical training as
well. Grandma and grandchildren can be thrown out of public housing if
another family member is a drug user. A single mother can be barred from
receiving the food stamps that help support her family.

These public and private policies are counterproductive. They lead to
humiliation, frustration, anger and despair on the part of recovering users
- -- conditions that drive people right back to the temporary solace of drug
use and the revolving doors of the criminal justice system.

After more than a year of testimony and study, Join Together, a project of
the Boston University School of Public Health, recently released a report on
the need to eliminate the discriminatory hurdles facing recovering drug and
alcohol users. Members of Join Together's national policy panel agreed that
addiction is a chronic, treatable illness that should be approached as a
public health concern, not a criminal justice matter.

>From my years as prosecuting attorney and judge in a city plagued by
extensive and chronic drug use, I know that punitive sanctions, no matter
how harsh, do not cure addiction or end the cycle of drug use, arrest and
jail. I have seen first-hand both the failure embodied in our jammed
prisons, and the success that a supportive environment can bring about.

Some years ago, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office hired a recovering
heroin user to manage a key program. Fred had been in recovery for a year
when he applied for the job. It was evident he was sincerely committed to a
drug-free life.

During the years he worked for the Prosecutor's Office, Fred was a reliable,
trustworthy, superb employee. He showed that a history of drug use is not an
automatic disqualifier. His work record demonstrated that recovering users
should be judged on their character and performance, and that rigid laws and
practices that bar them from work, school and housing not only punish
individuals unfairly, but deprive society of the contribution and inspiring
example they can provide.

There are thousands of Freds out there. Each one must make his or her own
decision to undertake the tremendous, painful effort required to conquer
drug or alcohol abuse. The rest of us can help -- and benefit -- by not
placing punitive and unnecessary barriers in their way.