The drug war has failed, it's time for a change in thinking

Here's the deal.    I am a perfect example of how access to treatment, recovery supports, and ongoing assistance from many government agencies to help me change my life has allowed my impact on society to go from being a tax burden to a tax asset.

In 1995 I was homeless.    I was couch surfing, jobless, in active addiction, committing crimes, and, overall, a massive burden on society.   If we JUST look at the cost to society from me, during that time period, I was not doing anything to make sure your tax dollars were spent well. 

I was in and out of jail and a constant drain on the court system.   Housing a person in jail is one of THE most costly expenses and we lock people up who have substance use disorders who commit non-violent, low level crimes at alarming rates.    So, that was me, in and out of jail frequently.....costly.

I can tell you, from personal experiences, what I needed most, was treatment, not jail.   Jail is not designed to help people with substance use disorders.  Many say, "yeah, lock them up, give them time to think about their choices".   I can understand that to some extent, but, not much.  Not when the person who is being locked up, who committed crimes, committed those crimes while under the influence, and has a substance use disorder.   What that person needs is treatment, not jail.

Some say, "well they had treatment, it didn't work, lock them up!"  And again, I hear that argument and can see, without more knowledge of the reason treatment didn't work, and an understanding of the strong need for ongoing recovery support after treatment, I can see why people say that.   But, I only get that for a short period. 

If you JUST look at the cost alone, it's still cheaper to keep sending someone to treatment. Also, the long term outcome is likely to be better for your tax dollars.  If a person who is committing non-violent low level crimes, and has a substance use disorder, has repeated access to treatment and recovery resources, their recidivism rates for going back to jail, drop dramatically.  So, purely from a dollars and cents stand point, our tax dollars would be better spent on the treatment and recovery side rather than the keep locking them up side.

I was fortunate, in the mid 90's, during the meth epidemic in Pierce County, they were seeing the need things I just wrote about above.   I was part of a program that gave me access to treatment, multiple times.  I was given access to counselors and doctors, funded by your tax dollars rather than just locking me up.    I was given access to a state funded (your tax dollars) program that gave me job training and help in going to college.  It IS because of these resources, that I am where I am at today in my life.

Today, and for many years running now, I have been a productive tax paying citizen in the community I live in.   Just purely from a dollars and cents stand point, it has worked out much better.   If I would have just been given a jail cell and harsh sentence, rather than access to treatment and recovery supports, you, the tax paying citizen, would still be footing the bill for me.

Now, those that know me, and the work I do in our community, know the ripple effects go far beyond just looking at this from a financial standpoint.    But, I like to try to paint this issue in a way that helps people see this from all angles.   

From a tax dollar standpoint, if we, as a society, were to go all in on what I and many others believe works much better, we could save taxpaying citizens......billions.......that is not joke and not false in anyway, we could save billions upon billions of your tax dollars.

This link takes you to a presentation I did with the topic of "History & Current Trends of Treatment & Recovery of Substance Use Disorders"

Recovery works, lives change. 

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