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Recovery in the News
New drug-treatment care
Howard Jospher
The New York Times
May 15, 2009
To the Editor:
“Shrinking the Prison Population” (editorial, May 11) rightly points out that parole and probation systems are sending too many drug-addicted and mentally ill offenders back to jail but doesn’t mention that the primary mechanism triggering these sanctions is failed drug tests.
Some recidivism would be addressed by expanding community-based drug treatment and mental health services, but unless we change our understanding of addiction, and its treatment, we will continue to unjustly punish people for their disease or their mental condition.
Many of us who work in this field have come to understand addiction as a relapsing, recurring disease or condition requiring us to address lapses in a way that does not trigger a punitive response. This emerging chronic care approach to drug treatment distinguishes itself from more punitive approaches where anything less than total sobriety is considered a failure.
Howard Josepher
The writer is president and chief executive of Exponents, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by drug addiction.