Some Courts Might Consider Relapse to be a Crime
Addiction is about more than using drugs. Being addicted to a substance or substances means that a person has violated every moral and ethical fiber they have, and constantly violates them every day in order to continue their addiction. Once a drug gets a hold of someone, it holds on tight…a death grip on a person’s life and a death grip on their family.
People don’t intentionally get addicted to drugs, that’s something I want everyone reading this to understand. Although the person did take the risk of getting addicted when they tried drugs for the first time, no one wanted to destroy their family and ruin their life because they got hooked on painkillers or heroin. While a person is unethical and immoral during their addiction, they commit crimes to support their hunger for the next hit. And for some, after committing crime after crime (sometimes people forget that merely possessing drugs is a crime), they endure legal consequences for their behavior. In some court’s jurisdictions, they want to see relapsing on drugs to be considered a crime…but should it be?
Relapse unfortunately happens. Some modalities of treatment say, “relapse is a part of recovery,” which I personally don’t get. That’s like saying “getting clean involves continuing to use drugs.” Completely illogical, if you ask me. Either way, relapse can happen, and a lot of addicts wind up on probation after committing petty and sometimes serious crimes to feed their addictions. Part of probation is the demand that the person stops using drugs and remains abstinent during the period of their probation, no matter if they’ve gotten treatment or not. A lot of the time, addicts get placed on probation and receive no substance abuse treatment, but they’re required to stay sober. If they don’t, they wind up back in jail and are charged with a violation of probation. Basically, it makes relapse a crime. The reality is that an addict can’t just stop using drugs. If they could, drug rehabs wouldn’t exist. So, when they’re given a random drug test at probation and they’ve used drugs again (because that’s what a lot of them do) they wind up back at square one. Some courts in Massachusetts are deliberating on whether or not this should continue or if a person should be pardoned for relapsing and put into treatment.
It’s crazy to me that some probation officers think their probationers can “just stop.” No addict can, and many addicts won’t. I personally believe that instead of locking up an addict for failing a drug test at the probation office, they should be placed in drug treatment and given the opportunity to get sober. Otherwise, a lot of them just stay in the legal system and go nowhere, fast. Relapse shouldn’t be considered a crime. It should be considered an opportunity to get your life together and to get the treatment you so desperately need, so you have a fighting chance of escaping the grip of addiction.
Sources Used:
http://www.kunc.org/post/court-rule-whether-relapse-addicted-opioid-user-should-be-crime
