TOSSING THEM IN JAIL JUST MAKES MATTERS WORSE

Most people who have never lived with a drug addict think that a good way to
wake them up and get them to walk the straight and narrow is a stint behind
bars. Lock 'em up. That should give them plenty of time to think, and lots
of motivation to straighten up and fly right.

This no nonsense approach seems logical, reasonable and less expensive than
long, drawn out treatment programs. Unfortunately it doesn't work.

If only it were that simple. If only the kid who's started running with the
wrong crowd could sit in a jail cell for awhile and sweat a few chemicals
out of his body and everything could go back to normal.

If only the young mother with a crack habit could magically realize, as she
paces the confines of a tiny jail cell, that if she just stops using
cocaine, every problem she faces will get better.

If only the young dealers, who make more in one month than most people make
in five years, without the bother of high school or college, could realize
the havoc they are wreaking on society. Maybe jail would give them something
to think about. (Provided their rich dealer friends don't bail them out .)

If Only.

The reality of the drug culture in America is far different than most people
who are not personally involved think it is. The good news is, that's about
to change. The bad news is the reason it's changing is that so many people
are getting hooked on drugs that soon, a vast army of Americans will know
from personal experience that substance abuse is not just a legal problem,
it is a health problem that is fast reaching epidemic proportions.

More good news: The experts who monitor trends have noted recently that
arrests for violent crime, rape and murder are down. But more bad news too:
Despite this downward trend, criminal arrests have reached an alarming high.

In fact, "one in every 32 adults in the United States was behind bars or on
probation or parole by the end of last year, according to a government
report Sunday (Aug. 25) that found a record 6.6 million people in the
nation's correctional system." (Associated Press release.)

Any guesses as to why? Driving while intoxicated and using illegal drugs.

Not surprisingly, two of the states with the largest population behind bars
or on probation for drug-related offenses are also two of the states with
the largest populations in general, namely Texas and California.

But to assume that the cause of their bigger drug problem is simply due to
higher population is to ignore an important fact. Both Texas and California
also have extensive border areas in common with Mexico, the single largest
portal of entry for illegal drugs into the United States.

It is no accident that the states with the closest proximity to the largest
supply of illegal drugs in America are also the two states with the largest
number of people behind bars for drug-related offenses.

In the year 2000, California decided to try a different approach to drug
enforcement. With the passage of Proposition 36, California took a giant
step in the right direction by mandating treatment rather than incarceration
for nonviolent drug offenders.

Jail does nothing to treat addiction, or the problems that have led the
addict to use illegal drugs in the first place. Most drug addicts freely
admit that they can often get more drugs in jail than on the street. They
can also make new connections.

In the mid '60s an idealistic generation decided to experiment with
mind-altering chemicals on an unprecedented scale. Unfortunately, it's pay
day for the Flower Children. The hippies who lit up joints a fraction of the
potency of today's marijuana are reaping what they sowed in the days of
their "groovy" rebellion.

Their children are not only dying their hair purple, tattooing their navels
and piercing their eyelids, they are using drugs that are more potent and
deadly than their parents ever dreamed existed.

The time to launch a real war on drugs is long overdue. That war must
utilize a strategy that is effective, even if it takes a long and arduous
ground war. Countless studies and statistical data have shown repeatedly
that incarceration is seven times more costly and infinitely less effective
than the slow, but effective approach of counseling, treatment and a social
services infrastructure to treat addictive illness.

Yes, it is an illness. If only it weren't. It would be so much easier if it
were simply a crime we could send people away for and straighten them out
once and for all and be done with it.

As more and more people find themselves in the throes of addiction - from
ordinary housewives who inadvertently get hooked on prescription medications
to unsuspecting schoolkids who were set up for addiction the day they were
put on Ritalin to control their hyperactivity to the construction worker who
finds himself addicted to the oxycontin his doctor prescribed for
work-related injuries - more and more victims are beginning to realize this
is far more than a crime wave, it's an epidemic..

We cannot afford to imprison everyone who has been caught in the trap of
addiction by a plethora of drugs pushed by legal dealers called
pharmaceutical reps or illegal dealers who have learned to make a profit on
people's suffering.

The most intelligent, cost effective and humane way to address our nation's
love affair with drugs is to face it head on and develop a network of
services connected to every hospital and social services agency in the
country.

Anything less is a prescription for disaster.

Please continue to let area legislators know that funds appropriated for
substance abuse treatment must be used for these vitally needed services.
They will soon be voting on budgeting for this important issue.