The United States spends fifty one billion ($51,000,000,000.00) annually (per year) on the war on drugs. Where is that getting us?\u00a0 Who is the beneficiary of this ginormous amount of money?\u00a0 Has anyone asked if the money could be spent in a more humanitarian effort such as programs and funding for those who wish to get out of the vicious cycle of addiction?<\/p>\n
The war on drugs began during the Nixon presidency when President Nixon, rightly so, called drugs \u201cpublic enemy number one.\u201d\u00a0 Alcohol and other drugs account for the majority of people now being held in our prison system.\u00a0 Has anyone considered that it costs over $50,000 per year to house one person in a correctional facility? That money couldn\u2019t be better spent trying to help people overcome addiction?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t even get me started on the term \u201ccorrectional facility.\u201d\u00a0 The rate of recidivism is a steady forty percent.\u00a0 There are approximately two million people incarcerated in the United States alone.\u00a0\u00a0 Of those people roughly one million are in jail on drug related offenses.\u00a0 This includes people arrested for marijuana offenses in states where pot is now completely legal!<\/p>\n
The war on drugs is a very healthy economy for some.\u00a0 Many people have become uber rich thanks to this war. Some of these people are the most ruthless people on the planet.\u00a0 Mexican drug cartels, Afghanistan drug lords, Governments of third world countries to name just a few.\u00a0 Our war on drugs hasn\u2019t saved any lives it has maimed and slaughtered countless innocent lives though.<\/p>\n
There are some rumblings from Washington that they are going to take a look at the clemency issue for a few thousand prisoners who are in jails for drug related crimes. A few thousand is a drop in the bucket of the larger problem at hand.\u00a0 How do we get help to those who need it and want it?<\/p>\n
As recovery advocates, myself and my peers struggle daily to find suitable help for those with their hand stretched out looking for assistance. I have to tell, if your wallet is empty, it isn\u2019t going to be easy to get treatment.\u00a0 The good news is; it isn\u2019t impossible.\u00a0 The sad part is; it isn\u2019t getting any easier right now.<\/p>\n
Currently only the best and most expensive insurance policies cover addiction treatment.\u00a0 Even in those cases the insurer usually dictates what that treatment is going to look like.\u00a0 Typically they will give the green light to outpatient treatment. \u00a0This means you get to go see a counselor a few times a week for therapy.\u00a0 This is rarely sufficient to get a person off of addictive substances.<\/p>\n
For addicts, the window of willingness to get help is very small.\u00a0 It may literally be only a matter of minutes that a person remains willing to be treated.\u00a0 An hour spent in therapy is merely a delay in the inevitable.\u00a0 Addicts recover best when they are in a group environment away from those people, places and substances that keep them in the vicious cycle of addiction.<\/p>\n
Some insurers will agree to inpatient treatment, typically only 28 days however.\u00a0 Statistics show a greater success rate when patients remain in treatment for 90 days. Why wouldn\u2019t we see those statistics and do what is best for the individual and society by giving treatment that is clearly better?\u00a0 If money is the sole answer, I know where there is $51,000,000,000.00 available to help!<\/p>\n
I see the illusion of ignorance at work here.\u00a0 We have almost 45 years of data showing that the war on drugs has done nothing to stem drug use.\u00a0 The number of high school students that have admitted to using heroine is through the roof.\u00a0 Alcohol has its same foothold on our youth is it always has. Now that pot is becoming legal for recreational use the stigma will subside possibly leading to more widespread misuse.\u00a0 Of those who try it just because it is legal, some will switch on their addiction gene and move into full blown addiction.<\/p>\n
Stopping people from using cannot be achieved by locking them up after they have already begun using.\u00a0 We need to do a better job of informing our population of the facts about addiction not propaganda.\u00a0 I never experienced \u201cRefer Madness\u201d nor did anyone else. It was just a lie and lies don\u2019t work.\u00a0 What is the first thing we ask our kids when we suspect them of drug use?\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t lie to me, have you been using?\u201d\u00a0 Not real helpful.<\/p>\n
I wonder why the majority of politicians don\u2019t see the impotence of the war on drugs and make an attempt to overhaul it.\u00a0 Just about everyone has been impacted by a loved one\u2019s addiction. \u00a0\u00a0With just a little bit of understanding it is plain to see that it is a sickness not a moral issue.<\/p>\n
Legislating morality hasn\u2019t worked really well for our country and it is about time to stop and take inventory of what works and what doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 Prisons can be the trigger that some need to become sober.\u00a0 I am pretty clear that in most cases people return from prison with deeper emotional issues and less coping mechanisms making addiction the easy way out.\u00a0 This begins the vicious cycle all over again.<\/p>\n
I say stop the war on drugs and start a new campaigned.\u00a0 Maybe we can call the \u201clight on addiction.\u201d\u00a0 We all know that what we look at disappears and what we resist persists.\u00a0 I am not resisting any longer. \u00a0I am now assisting, and that is what I encourage you to do. Instead of saying things like \u201cshame on you,\u201d maybe we can start saying things like \u201cI understand you, and I want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Help me shine the light will you?<\/p>\n
(Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and Recovery Advocate. \u00a0He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, recovery coach, and interventionist\u00a0specializing\u00a0in individual and family recovery. \u00a0Kevin has a passion for holistic living, personal awareness training, and physical meditation. You can visit his website<\/i>\u00a0Life<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0After Addicton<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more information.<\/i>\u00a0To connect with Kevin, please email him at\u00a0<\/i>Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span>)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The United States spends fifty one billion ($51,000,000,000.00) annually (per year) on the war on drugs. Where is that getting us?\u00a0 Who is the beneficiary of this ginormous amount of money?\u00a0 Has anyone asked if the money could be spent in a more humanitarian effort such as programs and funding for those who wish to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[196,197,1338,1027,1708,1707,459,1709,1705,1706,1710,1192],"class_list":["post-8262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction-and-recovery","tag-aa","tag-alcoholics-anonymous","tag-alcoholism","tag-drugs-and-alcohol","tag-incarceration-rate","tag-light-on-addiction","tag-na","tag-people-in-jail","tag-president-nixon","tag-president-reagan","tag-rate-of-recidivism","tag-war-on-drugs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8263,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8262\/revisions\/8263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}