Addiction
I attended the weekly Rotary luncheon here in Effingham. This week's program was on our local Drug Court. Drug Court offers select drug offenders an opportunity to avoid jail, by participating in a very focused program of drug rehabilitation. The local probation officer did a nice job explaining the program, but really got my attention when she revealed that their recidivism rate is approximately 5%. Recidivism is the rate at which prisoners return to their original illegal activities.
On average, the recidivism rate of drug offenders that enter the US Penal system is closer to 50%!
And then the probation officer introduced Jason Rodriquez. Jason is graduate of the Drug Court and spoke in moving terms about the manner in which he moved from a life of crime (dealing drugs, stealing cars, and burglary) to living drug free for more than 21 months. He started with marijuana at the age of 10, and was a "full menu" user during his teens. His drug of choice was heroin.
I've been in Rotary for more than 10 years. Jason's was the first speech, that I recall, receiving a standing ovation from the group. It was richly deserved.
Jason made a point during his speech that was more global than he intended. He stated, "I'm an addict. And until someone showed me a different lifestyle and how to escape my addiction, I was never going to change."
Those words are prophetic for many forms of addiction that have nothing to do with substance abuse. How do we as a society stop the addiction of welfare? How do we stop the addiction of food stamps?
The idea of government programs as an addiction was driven home by a local high school teacher. She asked her class about their goals in life. Two girls stated that their goal was to "get into government housing, just like our parents. You get paid for just staying home all day."
For one political party, sadly, those addicts are their loyal voting base. Neither the party, nor the recipient have the incentive to stop the addiction.
The answer only lies in the hands of citizens that care. Jason offered a glimpse that anything is possible.
On average, the recidivism rate of drug offenders that enter the US Penal system is closer to 50%!
And then the probation officer introduced Jason Rodriquez. Jason is graduate of the Drug Court and spoke in moving terms about the manner in which he moved from a life of crime (dealing drugs, stealing cars, and burglary) to living drug free for more than 21 months. He started with marijuana at the age of 10, and was a "full menu" user during his teens. His drug of choice was heroin.
I've been in Rotary for more than 10 years. Jason's was the first speech, that I recall, receiving a standing ovation from the group. It was richly deserved.
Jason made a point during his speech that was more global than he intended. He stated, "I'm an addict. And until someone showed me a different lifestyle and how to escape my addiction, I was never going to change."
Those words are prophetic for many forms of addiction that have nothing to do with substance abuse. How do we as a society stop the addiction of welfare? How do we stop the addiction of food stamps?
The idea of government programs as an addiction was driven home by a local high school teacher. She asked her class about their goals in life. Two girls stated that their goal was to "get into government housing, just like our parents. You get paid for just staying home all day."
For one political party, sadly, those addicts are their loyal voting base. Neither the party, nor the recipient have the incentive to stop the addiction.
The answer only lies in the hands of citizens that care. Jason offered a glimpse that anything is possible.
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