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 isnt 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 countrys
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 Hollands drug

addicts are in treatment programs; only 10-15 percent of Americas
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 shouldnt 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.