Answering an epidemic
http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2014/10/26/Answering-an-epidemic.html
From the article:
An estimated 200,000 Ohioans are addicted to heroin or prescription painkillers. The epidemic has thrown families into turmoil and financial calamity, clogged the courts, and sent thousands of addicts to prison for drug-related crimes.
Traditionally, sobriety rates for opioid addicts range from 15 to 30 percent a year.
Drug addiction is a disease; as with any other disease, drugs can help treat it. No one, however, should be compelled to use them.
Ohio spends roughly $114 million a year on alcohol, drug, and addiction services. Given wide gaps in treatment, the state should double that investment. Even if it did, it would still spend seven times less on treatment than it does on a prison system that holds thousands of people whose offenses are directly tied to addiction.
So if addiction is a DISEASE… why do we keep throwing them in prison ? I don’t see our society throwing other people in prison because they have a chronic disease. The question has to be asked.. why is our legal system discriminating against this segment of our population which is probably covered by The Americans with Disability Act ? Isn’t this a Human Rights issue similar to what we criticize other countries about .
Filed under: General Problems
Once again, you are conflating the issues. Addicts are not imprisoned because of their addiction. They are imprisoned because of the drug-related crimes they commit. It is illegal to possess controlled substances without a valid prescription. It is illegal to buy controlled substances from some dude on the corner. It is illegal to rob a pharmacy for drugs. It is illegal to forge prescription orders to obtain drugs.
If the state of Ohio is generous enough to spend $114million on addiction services I think that’s pretty nice of them. Maybe the addicts of Ohio should say ‘thank you’. It would be interesting to see how much the state of Ohio spends on other diseases that are not the direct result of bad behavior.