There’s a Q & A with former baseball player Darryl Strawberry in the New York Times today. He could’ve been a contender. Actually, for more than a few years he was, playing half a glorious career before crashing and burning on cocaine.
Q: You have your own history of illegal drug use, complete with cocaine binges and time in jail.
A: I wasn’t a criminal. That’s what saddened me. Not being a criminal and going to jail because you have a substance-abuse problem is really sad. It’s sad that the system doesn’t see that as the real issue.
While drug regulation sounds like a good idea, i’m seeing it just brings on a differant set of problems. Here in VT i’m dealing with addicts on legal prscriptions (paid for by social security benefits because they became addicts and can’t work) stealing from each other, family members or robbing stores in other parts of the state to get cash. If drug regulation comes, the government (Fed or state) needs to regulate the doctors and drug companies. Drug abuse is as bad if not worse as alcohol abuse. Doctors are fine with it because it is cash in there pockets. While we see still see alcohol abuse and all ways will, we have a pretty good handle on it with DUI enforcment and good educaitonal programs. Our DUI arrest, the last data I saw showed that mostly the hard core drinkers were getting arrested.
Drug rehab can be a pretty sleazy business. Nor is there any guarantee is actually works.
At least with prescription drug abuse, dealers don’t shoot each other.
I don’t know what the answer is for the drug addict. But I know it’s not prison.
that is exactly why I believe that drugs should be legalized and treated like alcohol. Who cares if someone does drugs in their home and are no danger to the society? But the second someone steps outside under the influence of coke, marijuana, etc… then it should be treated the see way as alcohol or (legal) drugs addiction. There is already DUI in the statuses, educate the people, fine them, don’t put them away to Jail, it just doesn’t help and waste taxpayers money.
I agree that putting them in jail does not solve the problem…… Although, I’ve seen the occasional alcoholic for their 3rd or 4th DUI want to jail just to dry out and not be able to get any alcohol…. Purhaps they should make a facility more for addicts and alcoholics that get arrested work on there addiction as part of there sentence??
Marijuana should not be placed in the same category as alcohol or drugs such as crack. I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana and have never known anyone to have stepped on the gas, instead of the break, and ran over a little girl riding her bike past a fast food restaurant on a bust street…