Pubdate: Sat, 01 Nov 2008
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2008 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Patty Gomez
Note: Patty Gomez lives in Redding.

END CYCLE OF ADDICTION, INCARCERATION

In their recent "Speak Your Piece" against Proposition 5, Shasta 
County District Attorney Jerry Benito and Sheriff Tom Bosenko 
suggested that the proposition would allow people who sell drugs to 
avoid consequences. As a former program director for a chemical 
dependency treatment facility that provided treatment under PC 1000, 
Proposition 36 and the Drug Court programs, I have direct experience 
with these programs. While I honor the work that the writers do in 
their capacity as law enforcement and district attorney, I must 
vehemently disagree with them.

The chemical dependency counselors who provide the services for these 
court-ordered treatment programs are trained to identify the 
difference between substance dependence and criminal behavior. 
Substance abuse and dependence are public health issues. That is why 
they are listed in the DSM IV as mental health disorders. They are 
disorders that require intervention and treatment.

Selling drugs is a criminal behavior and quite separate from the 
physical condition of addiction. What can confuse the issue is that 
often addicts sell drugs to support their habit. However, when an 
addict gets clean, he or she usually stops selling drugs. On rare 
occasions the person gets clean and continues to sell drugs, but this 
is rather unusual.

In my former work, the counseling staff and I were very tough on 
these folks. We immediately notified their probation officer and the 
client was charged with criminal behavior and incarcerated for a very 
long time.

One of the mottoes of the 12-step program Narcotics Anonymous is "I 
am responsible." What that means is that the drug-dependent person is 
responsible to adhere to his or her recovery plan or face the 
consequences. It does not mean that the addict is responsible for 
being an addict, because it is understood that addiction has genetic 
and environmental components like other disorders. But ask any 
recovering person in a 12-step program, or any chemical dependency 
counselor, and they will be the first to say that addicts must face 
the consequences of their behavior. However, being an addict and 
possessing drugs requires treatment, not incarceration.

A dear friend of mine teaches at Folsom Prison. He laments that so 
many of the inmates are incarcerated for drug addiction and drug 
possession and it is in prison that they learn to become real 
criminals. Recovery programs provide positive effects for the 
individual, the family and the community. Recovery has a ripple 
effect. Since service is an integral part of the recovery movement, 
people who get clean and sober often reach out and help others. I 
have seen whole families get clean and sober because one family 
member started the process.

Incarceration often has the opposite effect. Since jails and prisons 
are often places of violence, sexual abuse, dishonesty and racism, 
the inmate is negatively impacted. They are often released to their 
community with new-found criminal "skills," physical illnesses like 
hepatitis C and staph infections, and mental health disorders like 
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. And because they have 
been convicted of drug crimes, they often have difficulty obtaining 
employment. So they return to crime. And the cycle continues.

Let's stop the cycle of addiction and incarceration. Vote yes on Proposition 5.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom