Last week I got an email from a woman who is walking with her husband as he struggles with a drug addiction. It is incredibly painful and brings up an important question:

How does using the criminal justice system help or hurt the families of addicted people?

A few things to remember so we can connect those dots:

·       Even if someone is addicted to prescription drugs, many end up using drugs from the underground market when they can’t get prescriptions.

·       The underground market is governed by crime and violence.

·       Drugs from the underground market are often quite expensive because smuggling is risky.

·       Illicit drugs are also more potent because the risk of smuggling incentivizes the biggest punch in the smallest package.

·       Illicit drugs are contaminated, making overdose more likely because there’s no way for a consumer to know what’s in the drug they’re using.

·       It’s more difficult for a consumer to reach out for help because of the fear, shame, and stigma of being labeled a criminal.

For families of addicted people, this means:

·       Their loved one’s physical safety is more likely at risk as they engage with the criminal underground.

·       Their loved one may be spending far more money to support their addiction than they would be in a market similar to alcohol.

·       Their loved one is likely using higher potency drugs.

·       Their loved one is more likely to die from an overdose.

·       Their loved one has to overcome immense fear, stigma, and shame to reach out for help.

None of this helps the family of the addicted person, and we haven’t even gotten to the family impact of incarceration. 

What if we took a different path, caring for families by asking:

How do we create the widest path to help, so more people can overcome their addictions?

and

How can we reduce the collateral family damage of an addiction?

and the biggest question of all

How can we decrease the trauma experienced by each person in our community so we decrease their risk of addiction in the first place? 

Families all around us are suffering – often silently – through their loved one’s addiction. Maybe yours is too.

We’ll never have a world free of addiction this side of heaven, but we can take steps to decrease the prevalence and impact of addiction right now by shifting to a health-centered, harm reduction approach.