A Different Perspective: Drug Addiction as Illness

In rummaging around on the Internet today, looking for something cogent upon which to write, I came across the website for the Drug Addiction Treatment Centers, which is a clearinghouse for information on treatment facilities and drug addiction.

This website suggests that the United States is using the wrong approach with addicts, and I tend to agree. Incarceration of drug addicts is not the solution. Drugs are just as readily available in our penal institutions as they are on the streets. And living in a state (Oklahoma) where our prisons are bursting at the seams, it seems a different approach may be needed.

Here's what the website has to say on the subject:

The United States Justice Department's statistics confirm that the U.S. has more prisoners than any other country in the world. In 2006, that number was 2.5 million and continues to rise. Between 2000 and 2006, the nation experienced the largest jump in incarcerations ever. Criminal justice experts attribute the exploding prison population to harsher sentencing laws, particularly those related to illegal substance possession and use.

Whether addiction is an actual disease remains a hotly debated topic - one which probably will continue. Webster's defines 'disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady, illness; disorder". Drug addiction certainly meets that measure; show me a drug addict and I'll show you someone presenting symptoms of illness, malady and disorder.

Drug addiction is responsible for many psychological problems; including, depression, mania, violent fantasies, etc. Drug addiction leads to serious physical ailments, including heart attack, stroke, organ failure and death.

The drug addict's life most certainly is one of "dis-order"; no longer able to hold a job, relate to other human beings, to care for their personal hygiene, there is no order to be found.

The child of an addict is 3-5 times more likely to become alcoholic/addict as well; bolstering the data that suggests there is a strong genetic (medical) link. Our country is in need of a serious shift in overall thinking about how drug addicts should be treated. Incarceration does not work, plain and simple. Few states have the money (or interest) to devote to providing treatment for addicts behind bars. In fact, statistics reveal that many addictions actually grow while in prison. The availability of drugs and the need (desire) to escape leads drug addicts to use more and for those not exposed to drugs in the 'outside world' to begin using.

With no treatment available and drugs easily obtained, how can we expect our prison population to achieve and maintain sobriety? It seems we cannot; at least, not at this point. The most recent data reveals that inmates who are serving time on drug-related charges experience the highest recidivism rates of all offenders. This is because (1) they've not been given any tools to work with while in jail, (2) once they are 'on the street' again they return to old circumstances and behaviors, and (3) even among addicts participating in recovery programs, relapse is fairly common.

If we cannot appeal to Americans' compassion, perhaps we can appeal to their greed. The cost of incarcerating an addict costs 10 times more than treatment does. And people who receive proper treatment are less likely to re-offend, so the savings can be quite significant.

There is a widely-held belief in America that Holland has a permissive attitude towards drugs. It does not. Rather, the country has adopted a more practical approach. Large-scale drug trafficking is still vigorously prosecuted. Drug use, however, is considered to be a public-health issue, not a criminal one. Addicts who are caught stealing or breaking other laws are prosecuted, but they are not arrested for possession.

The statistics show the gains made by the Dutch in their handling of drug abuse. Thirty years ago the population of heroin addicts in the Netherlands was estimated to have been 25,000 to 30,000. While the country's population has grown by 6 percent in the past three decades, the number of heroin addicts has remained virtually the same. Very few new users have joined their ranks and as the "old-timers" age, they are dying off, leading to a further decline in heroin use.

Wim van den Brink, a psychiatrist at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam, sums up the country's drug policy this way "The view is that addiction is a brain disease and it requires treatment, not incarceration". This policy is responsible for a remarkable statistic: approximately 70 percent of Holland's drug addicts are in treatment programs; only 10-15 percent of America's are.

As Program Director of Tri-County CASA, I have watched for six years as drugs and alcohol have ravaged the parents whose children our program serves. Seventy-five percent of the children we advocate for come from homes where substance abuse is the norm.

Did you see that statistic above? "The child of an addict is 3-5 times more likely to become alcoholic/addict." That gave me a cold chill.

I'd like to hear your thoughts. What do you think about this article? What ideas do you have? How do we stay within our boundaries, but also encourage parents to get well so that they can be present for their children?