How Congress could help addicts

 

    Many American citizens struggle with addiction throughout their lives. According to American Addiction Centers “In 2022 nearly 108,000 people died in the United States from drug-involved overdoses. Additionally, from 1981-2022, unintentional poisoning (from drug overdoses) had become the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States.” With such a big problem in the United States the country should do something to try and solve this problem. A solution to this problem would be requiring addicts to go to a rehab center. The reasons why the United States should require rehab for addicts is because it would help them stabilize their personal lives, help society by being active members, and keep them out of legal trouble.

    

                                    Lawrence Jackson

     A reason rehab should be required is to help stabilize people’s lives that have been affected by addiction. Addiction effects citizens daily actives each day where the addiction becomes their focus trying to get their fix. Addiction effects people by having them go to hospitals because they overused their addiction where they needed medical help. It even effects the people around them for example their families having to take them to the hospitals to watch over them. The families also carry the burden of the persons addiction constantly worrying if they are going to accidentally harm themselves. This is where the USA government should step in and require them to go to rehab, so they don’t overdose again. It would lessen the number of overdoses seen throughout the country. It would also affect society too. It would help decreasing the number of people showing up to work not being able to do their job because they are hungover or high out of their mind because of drugs. It would increase the amount of people working and improve the rate of production in the USA. It would also help addicts by them being able to keep their source of income. It also would help society by the addicts having more money to spend to go support local business instead of wasting it on harmful drugs. 

    Another reason why we should send people to rehab is, so they aren’t in prison. In an article by National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics it says, “ 1.16 million American’s are arrested annually for drug related offenses and that 224 thousand of Americans sent to prison annually for drug related crimes.” Instead of sending people to prison where they won’t get help with their addiction they should instead get send to a rehab center. A rehab center can help treat them by seeing a professional instead of being put in prison or sent back home where their addiction would not be corrected. It would also help taxpayers by not having to pay to support them in prison instead that money could be used to help them stabilize their lives at a rehab center. It would also let them still be active members of society instead of living in a jail cell. 

     The problem with rehab right now stated by American Addiction Centers is “less than 43% of the individuals who enter treatment for drug and alcohol use complete it.” If rehab was required to be finished all the way through it might lower the number of overdoses and deaths seen throughout the country. Another thing rehab would do for the people going through it is it would show them they are not along. It would help them realize that others are going through the same problem and that their people there to help them get better. Another benefit rehab would have for addicts is it would create a routine for them, so they feel more structure and less likely to rely on drugs or alcohol when they feel like they don’t have anything. It would help them get out of their environment that is causing them to use and put them in a place where people are actively trying to better themselves.

     An argument against rehab might be that it doesn’t work. With addiction sometimes the person struggling with addiction will relapse. Mentioned in an article The Role of counselling in Drugs and Alcohol Rehabilitation Process “The Recovery Village’, of 2,136 American adults who wanted to stop drinking, only 29% reported a never relapse.” But later in the article it said that relapse is just part of the recovery that it lets the person treating them know that their plan of treatment needs to be adjusted to better help a patient. If a patient does relapse they would already have their base foundation build on how to overcome their addiction and could just need help because they are going through a tough portion in their lives.

     With the change of requiring addicts to go to rehab it could affect everyone in the country in a positive way. With this change it could dramatically improve the daily lives of everyone and lower the amount of people dying to overdoses, lower the amount of people that are in prison and help change addict’s lives for the better.