This essay argues that drug addiction and alcoholism are mental illnesses that fundamentally impair rational decision-making, and should therefore be addressed through therapeutic treatment rather than the criminal justice system. Drawing on the DSM-IV definition of substance abuse, the paper contends that imprisonment fails to treat the underlying chemical and psychological causes of addiction, and may actually reinforce addictive behavior by normalizing drug use within prison environments. The essay further challenges the logic of the "war on drugs," maintaining that punitive approaches mischaracterize addicts as rational actors capable of responding to deterrence when, in fact, the addiction itself removes that capacity.
Addiction, by definition, is illogical and irrational. "You're ruining your life," friends and family members say to the addict — and sadly, the addict knows this all too well. Yet through the lies the addict tells him or herself, sustained by the delusion of the disease, the addiction and the addictive lifestyle persist. Unlike a crime, which has premeditated, conscious decision-making (as in the case of murder) or poor but rational judgment (as in the case of manslaughter) at its root, alcoholism and drug addiction alter the abuser's ability to make rational decisions. Just as the criminal justice system does not imprison someone who kills a man because he or she is in a state of psychosis and genuinely believes the man to be a bear, it is ineffective to criminally penalize addicts who are operating within an irrational mental framework and cannot distinguish right from wrong.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), alcoholism and other substance abuse result in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, and home; recurrent substance use in situations that are physically hazardous; legal problems; and social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance. Trying to punish and deter the user — or even to rehabilitate the user through the tools of the legal system, which rely on imprisonment as a form of retribution — will do little to inspire reflection or remorse. Imprisonment does not treat the fundamental cause of the antisocial behavior: the addiction itself.
More than reflection, counseling, guidance about the wrongness of certain conduct, and reentry training are needed for addicts. Addicts must be treated by people who specifically understand the mental illness of addiction, just as schizophrenics must be treated by psychiatrists rather than social workers for their illness to be fully controlled. Untrained individuals may offer some help, but the chemical and genetic dimensions of addiction must be acknowledged and addressed for the addict to make a full recovery.
The purpose of the justice system is to punish. The truth is, most alcoholics and addicts have already been punished — before they ever walk into a courtroom. They have lost loved ones, promising careers, and their physical health to their illness. Could prison take away any more of their dignity, or meaningfully act as a deterrent? Incarcerating addicts without specific, substance-abuse therapy designed to treat the physical compulsions and psychological conditions — including but not limited to depression and anxiety — that motivated them to become addicts will do little to ensure that addiction, and any crimes it may have generated, will cease.
In fact, given the levels of drug use and abuse within prisons, incarceration may only give addicts further 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" has treated addicts like hostile combatants, ultimately fueling the drug trade rather than diminishing it. The fallacy of this approach is that addicts are not, past the first stages of abuse, willing actors who can freely choose whether or not to take the next hit based on the prospect of swift and certain punishment.
"Prison normalizes drug use and reinforces addiction"
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