Essay - Why the Problem of Drug Addiction Should be Treated as...

Why the problem of drug addiction should be treated as an illness and not through the criminal justice system

***** by definition is illogical and irrational. "You're ruining your life," friends and family members say to the addict. And sadly, the ***** knows this all too well. But through the lies the addict tells him or herself, in the delusion of the disease, the ***** and ***** addictive lifestyle is sustained. Unlike a crime, which has premeditated, conscious decision-making (as in the case of murder) or poor but rational judgment (as in the case ***** manslaughter) at its root, alcoholism and drug addiction alters the abuser's ability to make rational decisions. Just as the criminal ***** system does not imprison someone who kills a man because he or she is in a state of psychosis and believes the man to be a bear, it is ineffective ***** criminally penalize addicts when *****y are operating with an irrational mental framework ***** c*****not distinguish right from wrong.

***** to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ***** Mental Disorders, alcoholism ***** o*****r substance abuse results in a failure to fulfill maj***** role obligations at work, school, home, recurrent substance use ***** situ*****ions in which it is physically hazardous, legal problems, and social or interpersonal ***** caused or exacerbated by the effects of ***** substance. Trying to punish and deter the user, or even to rehabilitate the user through ***** *****ls of the legal system, ***** involve *****ment as a f*****m of retribution will do little to inspire reflection or remorse. Imprisonment will not treat the fundamental cause of the asocial behavior, namely the addiction. More than ***** and counseling, ***** guidance about the wrongness of the ***** and training ***** help ***** individual reenter society are needed for *****. Addicts must be *****ed by people ***** specifically underst***** the mental ***** of addiction, just like schizophrenics must be treated ***** psychiatrists, not social workers, to have their illness fully controlled. Untrained individuals may help, but the chemical and genetic side of addiction must ***** acknowledged and addressed ***** the addict to make a full recovery.

***** purpose of the justice system is to punish. The truth is, most alcoholic ***** addicts have already been *****ed, before they ever walk into a courtroom. They ***** lost loved ones, promising c*****ers, and their physical health to their *****. Could prison take away more ***** their dignity ***** act as a deterrent? Incarcerating addicts without specific, substance-abuse therapy designed ***** treat the physical compulsions and psychological conditions (including but not limited to depression ***** anxiety) that motivated them to become addicts ***** do little to ensure that *****, and the crimes it may have spawned, will cease.

In f*****, given the levels of drug use and ab***** in prison, it may only give ***** fur*****r reason to remain addicted, by normalizing the behavior, isolating them from non-addicts, and making it easier to obtain drugs. The so-called 'war on drugs' ***** treated addicts like hostile combatants, fueling the