PRISON NOT PART OF SOLUTION TO DRUG, ALCOHOL ADDICTION

Addiction Is An Illness And Cannot Be Treated Successfully By
Punishment.

The war on drugs has been lost since it began. The people who make the
laws are well aware of this, but they can't do anything about it
because the people who elect them do not understand this.

People start using alcohol or other drugs for a variety of reasons.
Some become addicted; some do not. Much of this is determined by genetics.

People do not choose to be addicted. They may make bad choices in
beginning this process, but once addicted, it is not a choice. This
cycle can be broken, but incarceration seldom works. Treatment can
work, but people seldom get that option anymore. Texas Gov. Ann
Richards understood this process and was building treatment centers
all over the state when she lost her re-election bid in 1994.

The majority of people in prison in Texas, and throughout the nation,
are there because of their addiction to alcohol or other drugs. Do
they realize this? Not often. Denial is the most powerful symptom of
chemical dependency. Addiction is the only disease that tells you that
you don't have it.

For many years, I talked to every person released from prison and
placed on parole in Amarillo who had a history of drug or alcohol use.
Very few of them were aware of the real reason they went to prison.
Untreated, such individuals are doomed to repeat the same mistakes
they made in the past. Prisons and jails are filled to the top with
these people.

I grew up in the 1960s, when "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" was our
motto. Most of us used alcohol and all the other drugs available to
us. Some of us became addicted; some did not. I was fortunate to get
into treatment in October 1984 and have been clean and sober ever since.

I started working at the Panhandle Alcohol Recovery Center in 1992 to
help others learn how to treat this deadly disease. I have worked at
the Pavilion, in the prisons and recently retired from the parole
office here in Amarillo.

There is no easy solution to this problem. I certainly am not saying
people should not be held accountable for their actions; I'm just
saying that what we are doing is not working. There needs to be more
education about this disease at every level.

Amarillo's parole officers are good people who try hard to help these
offenders get back on their feet and stay out of prison. But with
little knowledge or understanding about addiction and no means to
treat these people, parole officers' hands are tied. This is true of
the whole criminal justice system. Efforts are being made, but the
bulk of available funds is spent to lock addicts up and keep them locked up.

If we are going to imprison people for buying and using marijuana or
cocaine, perhaps we should do the same with sugar. How many people in
this country are obese and killing themselves because of their
addiction to unhealthy foods? Addiction is the same disease,
regardless of what we are addicted to. We have always found ways to
change the way we feel, whether it be through chemicals,
relationships, sex, exercise, shopping, gambling, TV - you name it. A
behavior has become an addiction when it starts causing problems and
we are unable to control it.

Does putting a person in jail ever cure them of their addiction? No,
it doesn't. Addiction is a bio-psycho-social disease, and its
physical, mental and social aspects must be treated. It takes time,
effort and money. For the addict, it is an ongoing process that lasts
a lifetime.

It is not an easy task. Whatever we are addicted to is always there
waiting for us. Denial comes in and tells us that just one won't hurt.
Just one beer or one joint or one pill or one shot. But if you are an
addict, one is too many and a thousand is not enough.

How many addicts/alcoholics are there in Amarillo? I know they would
not all fit in the Civic Center.

The problem is vast, and the way we have been dealing with it is not
working.