We are living in the 21st century and yet people are still getting their hands on drugs and most of the time it goes unseen. People get away with using drugs every day. Even when someone sees one doing drugs, they do not try to do anything to stop them because they do not want to get involved. I have been around people who have abused drugs all my life, whether it is legal or illegal. I used to be one myself. Some of them have been arrested numerous times, but more than likely the others just slip under the radar. With this many people in the country getting away with drug use, it clearly shows that our drug policy the government has does not work like it should.
In 2010, President Obama created a drug control strategy (ONDCP) focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery. The government will bring prevention into the workplace, schools, and law enforcement to educate them more on drugs and ways to prevent drug use from happening. The government will also help with treatment. They want to expand and increase in addiction treatments in health care services, so abusers can get the proper help that they need to overcome their addictions. Lastly the government wants to help with recovery. They want to expand support groups, so the recovering addicts will have people they can talk to and so they won’t feel alone in all their troubles. The most recent strategy, released in April of 2013, is as follows:
(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
At just a glance one might think this is a great plan, but I don’t see how it’s productive. I do not see enough prevention happening. We have D.A.R.E programs in elementary schools, and health classes in middle and high schools. These things aren’t enough for our children, especially when most of them do not pay attention in class. Also, some of the treatment centers just make the abusers addicted to the medicine that is supposed to help them. Places like our own Richmond Treatment Center. They say “We provide...