Disease vs. Choice (Revised)

Someone very close to me is affected by drug addiction and I had to watch them fight for their life after an OD, which gives me the desire to do research and learn more. Accordingly, I came across the fact that the fatality of drug use causes a huge cultural and ethical problem because everyone has a different opinion on how it should be dealt with. The biggest debate is whether they should go to rehab or be criminalized.

The different organizations in our community deal with drug addiction differently. For example, Sacred Heart allows the individual to do random drops and treats them accordingly as an outpatient rehab. Accordingly, there are also many in-house rehabilitation centers that allow the addict to stay there and learn coping skills and ways to deal with whatever it is that has led them to their addiction and while doing so they’re also treated for the physical withdrawals that they have to deal with because their body has forgotten how to function properly without the drug.

The police force and the courts most of the time try criminalizing the victim and charging them with possession of either the drug that they overdosed on or with drug paraphernalia for having the things needed to use the drug. When the person is charged and not taken to rehab first they are not learning coping skills or detoxing their body properly so they are more likely to get out of jail and/or prison and use the drug again. I believe that when someone has overdosed they should get the proper help they need and then be transferred into the jails to be charged criminally so that they are able to heal properly and then they learn their lesson for using illegal substances.

After watching a loved one on fight for their life on their death bed after taking their last breathe and being saved, I really am motivated to do more research and change the way that the community looks at drug abuse and how the overdoses are handled. Because if my loved one wouldn't have survived, I would have never watched him recover, I would've never watched him change his life around, and I would have never seen that Narcan and rehab do help a person more then just being criminally charged. I want to change the negative stigma that is placed around drug addiction, because the addicts need a supportive community so that they do not feel alone!