Should Taking Drugs Automatically Make You a Criminal?

Prisoners. Drug-addicted prisoners. N’ere-do-wells, safely locked up behind bars. Best place for ’em too! The scourge of society, and the public deserves to be protected from them. You could well be forgiven for thinking that, and lots of people would agree with your sentiments. They must be bad guys, right? I mean, why are we even discussing this?? Well … not necessarily. As is often the case, the truth is more complicated than you might assume if you just go by first impressions.

Here’s a case in point: a group of prisoners were in a courtroom staging area awaiting their turn before the judge, when suddenly the guard collapsed, right in front of them. And apart from the prisoners, he was the only one there. What did they do?

They could have freed themselves and made a break for it, that’s for sure … but they didn’t. What actually happened was drifting way off-script. First they shouted desperately for assistance for him, and eventually, when no help was showing up, they broke out of their cell to help him, risking whatever consequences might befall them. And in doing so, they didn’t just help him, they might have actually saved his life.

Nick Kelton, the first of the prisoners to reach the stricken guard, was a meth addict. Does the fact that he’s strayed into taking drugs make him a bad person? Asked why he did it, he said “He’s a good man … saves lives … whether he’s got a gun or a badge, if he falls down I’m gonna help him”. Hardly the response of a bad man, a hardened criminal. So this begs the question: should drug-takers routinely end up in prison? Maybe it’s time to rethink the policy on dealing with drugs offenders. Maybe they need help far more than they need punishment.

Does taking drugs make you a criminal?

In some parts of the world drug use has been decriminalised (more than 20 countries actually), and maybe that’s the way forward. Certainly the present situation isn’t working too well, where taking drugs automatically creates criminality and costs taxpayers a fortune keeping addicts locked up. And, as everybody knows, the best way to become a better criminal is to mix with lots of criminals; that way you can learn their ways and, whether you like it or not, you’re likely to be influenced by their views. So … is there a better way to deal with drug addicts?

Well, in some parts of America you can now walk into a police station and admit you’re taking drugs (or even if you’re actually high at the time), and instead of being arrested you’re more likely to be helped and guided into a drug rehabilitation program. Take a look at this video, and listen to Leonard Campanello, the Police Chief at Gloucester Police Department, MA, and hear his comment: “… there’s no way we’re ever going to arrest our way out of the addiction crisis in this country”.

It’s never too late to admit you got it wrong

Taking drugs, per se, does not make you a bad person. And it certainly doesn’t make you a criminal. Well, no more than someone addicted to take-away food or cigarettes is a criminal, anyway. It just means that person has made some dubious choices in life and has started down a very treacherous road, one that might well have a disastrous ending. And one that’s very difficult to get off, left to your own devices.

I think maybe it’s high time that those in charge of making the laws and enforcing them realised that this situation needs to be viewed differently and approached with a different mindset. Locking addicts up is clearly not working. Apart from how ineffective it is as a deterrent, it puts a huge strain on society. Every taxpayer is helping to pay for these ‘criminals’ to stay behind bars, and it ain’t cheap! Looks like it’s high time to rethink our entire approach to this problem.