"You can't punish an ailment"
The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader is running a package of stories this week about one woman's experience working her way through drug court, a program aimed at keeping addicts out of jail by providing counseling, frequent testing and structure. From one of the articles:
It's a recognition that to address drug crimes, the system must address the disease of addiction.
"You can't punish away an ailment. It's that simple. Why should we punish people for what is clearly a brain disease?" said Doug Marlowe, director of law and ethics research at the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
The first drug court started 20 years ago in Miami. According to the Herald-Leader piece, there are now about 2000 of these programs nationwide. A 2005 GAO review of drug courts (pdf) reported that the programs seemed to lower rates of recidivism, though their record at actually reducing relapses in drug use were mixed.
(via)
-Greg Dahlmann
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Alcoholism and drug addiction are not diseases. They are habitual behavior. There is no such thing as a "spiritual disease". A.A. has been pushing that piece of nonsense for 70 years now, and it's still untrue. It's also counter-productive. If an alcoholic has no control over the situation -- is "Powerless Over Alcohol" -- then he has no responsibility for his condition, and has no obligation to quit drinking and get his life together. The same goes for drug addiction.
Of course, A.A. has been very two-faced about this. After declaring that you have a disease and should not feel guilty about it, they turn around and define alcoholism as a moral failing that is caused by unconfessed sins. Even the A.A. founder Bill Wilson declared:
"We AA's have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking it is not a disease entity."
== Bill Wilson, speaking to the National Catholic Clergy Conference On Alcoholism.
If it isn't a disease, then what is "treatment" for the non-disease, and what are we paying for when we shell out $6.2 billion per year to the double-talking treatment centers to treat this non-existent disease?
Have a good day anyway.
- by Terrance Hodgins on Oct 17, 2007 at 2:18 PM | link
The disease metaphor is a way for managing the degree or responsibility/blame to produce the greatest possible positive behavioural change. If it works, great.
- by emily on Oct 18, 2007 at 10:02 AM | link