Becoming a thing of the past. And, seems too many only care when it affects them. Jailing people for substance addiction doesn't help them and costs taxpayers billions of dollars per year that could be spent helping the addicted. Prescription drug addiction is not always the fault of the patient. Yet, we pay to send them to jail or prison rather than offering them rehabilitative programs. Privately run prisons need to go as there objective is to fill their beds, not to rehabilitate inmates and they cost taxpayers billions. Parents have lost rights, teachers have lost rights, employers have lost rights, voters have lost rights, Religions have lost rights, States have lost rights and the Federal Government and Liberals march on.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. You can force people to get treatment but it is generally ineffective. To recover from addiction the addict needs to first admit they have a problem, then seek help of their own volition. I use to help facilitate a recovery program at a State Prison for 5 years. Twice a week I would drive out to the prison and help others overcome their addiction. The program was voluntary, and facilitators were not allowed to give recommendations at Parole Board meetings... this kept our program away from those who would take the course to make them selves look better. The man who started the program takes the program to prisons around the country. You can force someone to get sober in prison, but once they are on the outside most will go right back to drinking and drugging. How so? Some examples? In Boise Idaho there use to be a stone engraved with the Ten Commandments in a public place. It was there for who knows how long... many years. It was removed because of a challenge from the ACLU I believe. At the time I was miffed, but today I understand the reason. And the reason is that not everyone is Christian and there is a separation of Church and State that trickles all the way down to the City level. For the Ten Commandments to remain displayed, it would have to be OK for other religions to display their religious text... even more controversial religions like satanists, Wicca, an Scientology. It just made more sense to remove the Ten Commandments rather than have to allow various random religious symbols on public property. But none the less, above Boise at a place called Table Rock, there stands a large lit up Cross obviously representing Christianity. The ACLU tried to have it taken down but lost... and the Cross still stands.
. I believe that was part of my point. Putting an addicted individual into jail or prison for addiction to "prescription" drugs that were prescribed to them for a medical purpose; and then turned into a an involuntary addiction or jailing an individual for possession of Marijuana, a non-violent drug unlike alcohol; is costly and not effective. Especially if the individual is released to a non-effective parole program that includes no continuing treatment and follow-up and no assistance with finding a job for which the person is qualified for. The entire system is set up for failure from the start. And it costs thousands of dollars per inmate, while the parole or probation programs cost thousands and many individuals without a job can't afford the monthly fees. Instead, for those individual addicts(not dealers); how about establishing inpatient and outpatient programs administered by the States and Counties that allow family participation when deemed helpful? With the final goal being getting the person medical treatment, psych treatment, and helping them find gainful employment or educational programs? Spending the money to help individuals that may or may not have become addicted willingly. And, if the Government wants to stop DWI then they should pass a law that prohibits bars and restaurants from serving any individual more that 2 drinks within 2 hours AND every restaurant and bar should have a breathalyzer available for patrons to use before leaving their establishment. Many bars and rest. have off duty officers outside the door, why can't they provide a breath test instead of arresting patrons or calling local law enforcement once the patron drives off? For that matter, why allow alcohol to be served to a patron when all to often the patron/driver has had 2 or more drinks during dinner and will test over .08? Perhaps alcohol should only be consumed at home or when one is walking but never in a public place or establishment. Then I also must ask why such a harmful drug such as alcohol should be legal when it is the cause of many violent acts and car accidents when a peaceful drug such as marijuana is illegal. I personally no of no violent act committed after using marijuana or anyone speeding with their vehicle(they are normally over cautious) if they even leave the location the are smoking at(which is highly unusual in my many years of observation). It is alcohol that causes family and social problems not to mention health problems. So why does the Government attempt to ban Marijuana when I contacted them and their response was they have no research on marijuana that shows it as the cause of assaults, car accidents and little information on the health effects. But, they said the current Administration is against legalizing the drug.
