John Logan (NEW 243)

Drug Addiction: Crime vs. Disease

Addiction is found in almost every part of society. A common label assigned

to some of the most innocent activities people are obsessed with. However,

addiction is not an issue to be taken lightly or for granted in specific areas. Drug

addiction is a very serious issue within society as a whole. In addition, an immense

amount of drug addicts find themselves placed into correctional facilities when

found with possession of these drugs. The incontrovertible issue that faces our

government is whether to have these individuals helped with medical treatment or

proceed with the abused cycle of criminalization of these individuals. The

overpopulation of our prisons is a strong indication of the overwhelming numbers

of people criminalized for possession of drugs. The Huffington Post identifies “Over

50 percent of inmates currently in federal prison are there for drug offenses,

according to information recently released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. That

percentage has risen fairly consistently over decades, all the way from 16 percent in

1970”. Yet, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health says

“Despite the quadrupling of heroin overdose deaths over the past decade and a

dramatic rise in deaths from prescription painkillers, the percentage of people

getting treatment for their opioid abuse and dependence has remained the same”

The question that remains, is drug addiction a disease or a crime?

The scientific evidence alone should prove the effects of addiction, which, we

should assume the classification of these men and women in relation to a medical

illness. Yet, our arrest records show a very different perception of these individuals.

A disease can be defined as any departure from health presenting marked

symptoms; malady, illness; disorder. Addiction follows hand and hand with this

definition and should be treated accordingly. The majority of medical associations,

including the American Medical Association and the American Society of Addiction

Medicine, accept it as a disease. The cause of addiction is attributed to a mixture of

behavioral, environmental, and biological factors.

The argument remains that there is still a voluntary aspect of using the drugs

that causes the individuals to be liable for their own actions. However, addiction is a

very powerful disease that once established, changes how the brain functions and

makes decisions. CASA Columbia states “People with addiction should not be

blamed for suffering from the disease. All people make choices about whether to use

substances. However, people do not choose how their brain and body respond to

drugs and alcohol, which is why people with addiction cannot control their use

while others can”. The choice of taking the drugs in the first place does not indicate

that addiction is not a disease. For example, skin cancer is often times preventable

but people do not choose to use sunscreen or are exposed to the sun far longer than

recommended. No matter how an individual chooses in the beginning, it should not

matter once someone is addicted. Also, people say drug addiction is not an illness

because there are many individuals that can be considered addicted and would be

able to stop on choice. However, there are different severity of addiction which, in

some cases there are mild addictions depending on the specific person. In a majority

of cases the severity of the addiction is far stronger and requires intensive

rehabilitation. Columbia mentions “Over time, continued release of these chemicals

causes changes in the brain systems involved in reward, motivation and memory.

When these changes occur, a person may need the substance to feel normal. The

individual may also experience intense desires or cravings for the addictive

substance and will continue to use it despite the harmful or dangerous

consequences”. These specific cases can and should be considered a medical illness

and should be treated in the appropriate measures including medical treatment,

lifelong guidance, and support throughout the process.

The current process of drug addiction is inadequate shift from

criminalization to expensive prescriptions for recovery purposes. The drug

addiction process is a destructive one to begin with. In addition, this negative way of

life is compounded by drug charges, court costs, and damaged permanent records in

our current treatment practices. Once a drug addict has been through that process

he or she is offered treatment with other drugs such as Methadone to combat the

addiction and wind them off the current drugs. However, this system is flawed in my

opinion. The irony is that we combat drug addiction with more drugs. These drugs

are often just combined with the drug of choice they will continue to use illegally.

The most efficient and logical way to defeat addiction is abstinence-based

rehabilitation. It is a rigorous and brutal process to defeat the existing problem but

it should be mandatory for revival. Instead of spending millions of dollars on

prisons, we should invest this financial burden into a beneficial area. It is clear that

the number of criminal drug offenses is overwhelming compared to other crimes.

The majority of these drug offenses are simple possession, which are the reason

many drug addicts end up in this defeating system. The dilemma remains the same

with a stagnant system and a tremendous amount of non-progressing individuals

lingering with no direction. The process clearly isn’t working and we should be

taking advice from countries such as the Holland who have seen better treatment

than the United States. The CRC Health mentions this “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”. The staggering numbers

are a realization that the United States should come to grips with the problem at

hand. The Dutch have managed to keep the percentage of heroine addicts the exact

same with their entire population growing 6 percent in that same time frame. The

same cannot be said for the United States. Complete dispersion of all drug addiction

is an unobtainable goal but this does not mean that our system is doing the best job

it should be and that we should not start viewing drug addiction as a medical

disease.

There are continuing advancements in imaging the human brain through MRI

and other efforts. In these areas we can start to see the progress made from

individuals with addiction compared to a normal brain. It can also help establish

why this disease is very serious. The deterioration of many vital factors in the brain

can be seen in these different MRI scans. These images support the behavioral

changes of an individual addicted to drugs and how it affects the brain specifically.

The National Institute on Drug abuse states, “Modern imaging techniques enable

researchers to observe drug actions and consequences as they occur and persist in

the brains of abusing and addicted individuals”. These new advancements should

help the understanding of addiction as a disease and shouldn’t be judged just as

criminal activity.

In conclusion, there is a problem in the United States with the perspective of

drug addiction in this country. There are medical experts that have already

established this condition as a disease. However, we have not started the process of

accepting this fact and working to fight against this common disease in our own

country. Criminalization is counter productive to drug addiction and the financial

effort should be reassigned to more suitable areas such as abstinence based

rehabilitation clinics mandatory for a current addict. Addiction can be in all forms of

severity and for many different things. The seriousness of drug addiction should beg

the question, why is the problem only getting worse? There is a clear answer to

combat drug addiction for this individuals stuck in a never-ending hole with a

disease dismissed by many as self-choice. Addiction is a disease and prison is the

absolute worst solution to a problem affecting thousands of individuals and their

families daily.

Work Cited

CASAColumbia. (2012). Addiction medicine: Closing the gap between science and practice.  

"Find a Treatment Facility." CRC Health Group. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Fowler, Joanna, Nora Volkow, Cheryl Kassed, and Linda Chang. "Imaging the Addicted Human Brain." Science & Practice Perspectives. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Number of addicted rises, but percentage in drug treatment remains stagnant." ScienceDaily. 13 October 2015.

Miles, Kathleen. "Just How Much The War On Drugs Impacts Our Overcrowded Prisons, In One Chart." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.