Nation Is One With Finite Research Paper

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However, with this mandatory sentence comes seemingly excessive punishments for being afflicted with a real disease. These types of solutions to the drug problem in the United States fail entirely to grasp drug problems as a real medical issue and therefore throw out medical treatment over punitive punishment, (Nadelmann 2007). Not to mention many of these programs go only so far, failing to provide the support and structure many drug addicts need in order to get themselves clean. Much research has shown that more intensive inpatient programs prove more successful than less regulation programs (McKay et al. 1997). Therefore, ineffective drug treatment programs within prison walls are failing to truly encapsulate the addict as a means of supporting their efforts to get clean.

One other major solution that is currently being used in many states is the enactment of a drug court to handle specific drug cases. This court can then provide alternatives to the sentence imposed on the drug offender. The offender, when convicted, is still sentenced to serve prison time. However, the judge in drug court provides an alternative: if the offender successfully attends and completes drug rehabilitation therapy or programs, that prison sentence is done away with, (Armstrong 2003). This is an excellent step in the right direction for offenders and drug addicts. Not only does it give them the opportunity to stay out of prison, but it provides them a chance in alternative programs aimed specifically at getting them clean, specifically in vulnerable groups such as low income and the homeless (Hodulik 2001). However, there are some problems with the current system in place in many states. In many cases, the offenders themselves are responsible for covering the financial burdens of their drug treatments. Yet, they would not be responsible for their daily incarceration if they were in prison, that is covered by the state. This leaves one to wonder how states can believe their drug courts and programs to be successful when they expect already financially instable inmates to pay for their own rehabilitation, along with all drug court fees and penalties. It is essentially a system that is in place to provide an alternative, however that alternative is not viable within real life applications.

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On top of this, many drug addicts may prove not to be successful in completing their first round of treatments. As a disease, some degree of failure should be anticipated in the fight to remain clean. However, many states do not accommodate such growing failures, and if the offender fails at one program -- he or she is off to prison. Many of these drug courts place the judge in charge of monitoring offender's treatment, not a doctor (Armstrong 2003).

Conclusion

It is clear that imprisoning drug offenders based on the conditions of their disease is inefficient. Current prison treatments fail to encapsulate the true nature of the disease and current alternatives fail to present a solid plan to get the addict off of drugs. In this day with limited financial resources, it is clear that drug offenders should be somewhere other than spending the tax payers' money in federal and state prisons.

In the midst of the current system there are several recommendations to be considered which would improve the state of our judicial system. One would include

Three recommendations mandatory follow up treatments for inmate's leaving prison. One program in California showed an impressive reduction of the recidivism rate by 50% with the use of a treatment program that followed the newly released inmate into the real world, (Limieux 2002). Following the lines of such successes could vastly improve the success of addicts attempting to cleanse themselves of their addictions. Another recommendation would be absolutely no prison sentencing for mere possession cases. Rather than implement prison sentences, the state and federal courts should require mandatory rehabilitation and treatment sentencing in order to best provide for the recovering addict. Finally, the judicial system should encourage familial support through treatment process and imprisonment. Research has shown that "family and community ties can facilitate an inmate's successful reintegration into society upon release," (Lemieux 2002:52). Thus effort place on improving familial support during the entire recovery process should prove of great importance, especially over the isolation seen in the current punitive design.

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