Some would never qualify for release

~ Jason Schwartz

Someone tweeted this drug policy proposal the other day:

We need to do something effective to rid them of the addiction, and protect the public from drug-related crime so long as they are addicted. That means addicts should be segregated from society until they are no longer addicted. Put them in jail for long terms? No, that is expensive, and it is too easy to get drugs in our jails.

I suggest isolated work camps, where drug addicts will go cold turkey or are weaned off drugs in a medically supervised way.

Yikes!

A few thoughts:

  • This is horrifying. (Particularly if you read on to the mention that many of the addicts will need to be confined to this camp forever.)
  • As horrified as many of us are, this is written in response to a similar horror at the idea of distributing needles and crack pipes.
  • If such a “shelter” was free, voluntary, compassionate and offered real help, addicts would flock to it.
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Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.

4 thoughts on “Some would never qualify for release”

  1. Many people believe this, I think. They just don’t say it out loud (or in a major newspaper!) Didn’t we already try this with the alcoholic work farms?

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