Substance Abuse and Prisons

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Substance abuse is a national problem. Prisons are overcrowded with these types of offenders. People will do anything to get these drugs ranging from petty theft to murder. People with substance abuse problems know no boundaries. All they think about is how they are going to get that drug for that day. Substance abusers do not care who they hurt or why they hurt them. A lot of people that are addicted hurt the people they love the most like children and parents. People in the prison system that has been convicted of violent crimes most of them say that they were under the influence of some type of drug or alcohol. Putting these types of individuals in prison is a problem. They are put in there to get rehabilitated and help with their drug problem. The states and United States government contribute billions of dollars to prisons; where, the majority of offenders are substance abusers. However, are they really getting the help they need? Here is a little history on drug abuse. According to David Musto (1987) drug abuse has been around for approximately 100 years. Christian organizations had a meeting with congress and made a claim that drug abusers were hazardous, wicked individuals. These groups thought that the drug use among foreign individuals like the Chinamen and corrupt Mexicans were a threat for the American born individuals. These groups convinced Congress to criminalize drugs. One-hundred years ago some drugs was legal to possess and even children could buy drugs like morphine, opium, marijuana, and cocaine. These drugs if got caught with them today could result in a life sentence it today’s society. 1914 was a change for these drugs it was like overnight these drugs become illegal. The reason for this change in 1914 wa... ... middle of paper ... ...ment. When they modified the treatment they hinder the ability to identify the effective parts of this treatment. According to De Leon 2000 this treatment model recommends hiring recovering addicts and ex-felons (Cook, J. (2008). This has been challenge for the TC program, because of the policies and procedues in the prison institutions. They trained inmates with good behavior to take place of the ex-felons and recovering addicts. The TC program has four phases with the phases running from orientation where they learn the program rules. The second phase is where they learn how to cope with everyday problems. Third phase is where they learn life skills and violence substitutes. The fourth and final phase is where they get the inmates ready for release through with groups like education and employment. Treatment programs could cause other health problems.

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