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Down The Middle - Aug 3, 2004 - Printable Version
- Wanted: An Alternative For Drug Offenders
by To The Left
I recently found some new statistics on the record-breaking rise in the American prison population. I had previously reported in another article that one in seventy-five citizens were incarcerated or on parole or probation. This new information claims that the numbers now are one in thirty-two! That amounted to 6.9 million adults in the prison system at the end of 2003, an increase of 131,000 since 2002. About one-half of these people on probation are convicted of a felony with twenty-five percent convicted on drug charges. We are talking about 3.2 percent of the total U.S. adult population! When I look at the American prison population, the welfare expenses for broken families caused by incarceration, and the drug crime rate, it makes me sick. I believe that our justice system is totally out of control when it comes to prisoners and profits. Certain people in our country have gone to extremes to profit on both government and prison systems, while many of the prisoners are really the victims. I agree that there are a lot of bad guys out there that need incarceration, but I believe some big changes need to be made.
The major growth of this population is due to the war on drugs. I have previously stated my opinion on marijuana use in my previous article, Reefer Madness? at: www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/DownTheMiddle/1003.html but believe me, there are some dangerous drugs out there. I have a problem with, as many do, the smuggling and black market sales of drugs. These people are making fortunes on other people's misery. The non-violent drug users are the one's that I feel are victims and could be helped more in a recovery and placement program than in prison.
A friend of mine that was incarcerated for a couple of years has talked to me about prison life. He said that most prisons were, he estimated, about sixty percent self-sufficient. They have farms for raising food; raise cattle and other livestock along with producing other needs for the population. They also contract out prisoners for city and state work. These prisoners are paid hardly anything, yet the prisons profit handsomely. Still, they estimate the costs are an average of $20,000 per inmate per year. Many times, prisons have extra-high rates for "collect" telephone calls from inmates to their families. This hurts the family of the prisoner financially, not the prisoner.
It has got to be a lucrative business, the prison business. There is a real problem that has to be soon remedied - The definition of criminals. In my opinion, non-violent drug offenders are in the wrong place if they are in prison.
Drug addiction is a disease, just like alcoholism! These people are not all criminals. Narcotics, cocaine, amphetamines, and the other really dangerous drugs, are the drugs that destroy lives by the thousands. Drug addiction can sure put a "monkey on your back".
The leaders of today believe that we need to just lock the users up. Most of the drug offenses today have mandatory sentences that must be completed. Violent offenders have a much better chance to get out on parole than the non-violent drug offenders. When these people get out of prison, they can't find the kind of job needed for "the good life" because of felony convictions.
A person gets arrested for drugs and goes to prison. They will mix with the prison population and probably will come out in worse shape than when they went in. The prisoner's family is usually forced to be "on hold" until the prisoner is released. Most of these families are forced to go on welfare to make ends meet during these times.
I have just finished a psychology course on "Behavior Modification". I learned some very helpful information in the course. Prisons use "positive punishment": An aversive stimulus (prison) is introduced so the probability of a behavior (drug use) decreases in the future. Well, that doesn't seem to work very well. Drugs are available in prison and when you get out, you go back to the same environment, now with a record, and struggle with demons all around you.
The way to deal with drug recovery is by first using "negative punishment": Punishment in which a reinforcing stimulus (drugs, etc.) is removed which results in the decrease in the probability of the behavior. At the same time, there is a need for "positive reinforcement": Reinforcement in which a stimulus or event is presented which increases the probability of a behavior. This stimulus or event in positive reinforcement must "replace" the drug use life. This is a tall order. You have to rebuild your life and constantly be aware of the dangers lurking right around the corner. This takes an event or stimulus that is more rewarding than the drug life. Many offenders don't know anything about a drug-free life.
I believe it is time for our government to stop the prison profits and start trying to rebuild lives. Non-violent drug users should, rather than go to prison, be required to go to treatment for thirty days along with the twelve-step program to begin with. Thirty days is considered the norm, but it is not enough! I've been there and I saw people going home that were scared to death to go back and deal with what they left behind: same friends, dope, and environment. No, it takes more time to start a new life.
I believe the government should develop a new system with various levels to aid in recovery, education, and more specialized placement to insure that these people have a more rewarding life and a fair chance to succeed. For every recovered drug addict, there are probably twenty other people that are positively affected. Families can reunite! There will be fewer broken families, hence, fewer on welfare with a better chance for the children to know and love their whole family and have a chance for a more normal life. We would be rebuilding our society for a fraction of what it costs for the drug war and prisons while stopping a lot of pain, helplessness, and sadness.
One of the most elusive problems that our country has is how to stop the trafficking of drugs. The U.S. has spent billions upon billions of dollars trying to stop the drug trade. Drugs are money and money is king. As long as there is a demand for drugs, there will be trafficking. We have gangs and others selling drugs, killing anyone that gets in their way. We have pushers running around with gold chains around their necks, driving new expensive cars, with an automatic weapon in the back. It's much like the Al Capone days during alcohol prohibition only many of these are our youth. A young boy looks at these individuals as their hero and wants to grow up to be just like them. Why get an education when you can be rich with the least of effort! We need to get our society back on track! Successful people should have to work their way up. So what can we do?
This country has never been unable to control crimes concerning "pleasures". Just look at prostitution, alcohol and drug use. These are here to stay. The best we can do is to minimize these crimes. Prohibition of alcohol just made drinking more popular. As soon as prohibition was repealed, the profits stopped for the criminals and popularity shrank. The black market business is all about profits to individuals that shouldn't have it. People exposed to the "drug life" when young, carry on the cycle. The fact is, we have no control over illegal drug sales because we can't control the profits.
The only way I can ever see any control of illegal drugs and use is to take the profit out of it. The only way they took the profit and crime out of alcohol prohibition was to reverse the law. I feel like the only way to stop drug trafficking is to decriminalize it in a way to take the profits away.
Now, I'm not saying that these hard drugs should be sold down at the local drug store. That just won't work at all! The drugs should be accessible through a government program. Norway has done this and has sharply decreased their drug-related crime rate and at the same time, saved and helped many drug users.
What this would amount to would be clinics licensed to dispense and control drugs to the addicts. There would be little or no cost except that they would be supervised (no more overdoses) and counseled by professionals. Alternative drugs should eventually be used to replace the problem drugs, and I'm not talking about methadone. I have an old friend that has been on methadone for twenty years and he has about had it! Since he began the methadone program, he hasn't been the same. When he got on the program, he thought he had it made! Mother nature just doesn't work that way.
I believe that once medical marijuana is legalized, a whole new dimension of medicines will surface. I think some sort of THC product will be just what we're looking for the hard drug addiction. Our brains have THC receptors in which a chemical in the body, anandamide, is released when we are in high stress, fatigue, or pain. It's just like what marijuana does to you. It's an all-natural way to control the withdrawal of alcoholism and drug addiction.
I know, it's a touchy subject, but it can't go on like it is. I have seen over thirty years of drug wars. The only thing that has come from it is billions of dollars lost, corruption in the legal system, more serious crime rates, more deaths, and a very serious breakdown in our society. We just can't stop the drugs until there is no demand and no profits to be made! So, changes are what we are going to have to make and these changes are way overdue!
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