Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) has introduced an interesting bill that promises to redefine the way the government looks at drug and alcohol addiction. The redefinition is important as it changes the perspective from addiction being a choice and by extension criminal to one of a mental disorder that should be treated like many other disorders of the human organs and systems.
The United States is losing the self imposed war on drugs because we have chosen to define an enemy that doesn't exist. We have been chasing a demon essentially that is in reality an aspect of our consciousness. The Reagan administration followed several decades of government orders in this direction and capped it off by going to war against drugs, which in retrospect is similar to going to war against mental illness or a war on cancer or a war on aids. Locking people with cancer up in prison is not going to stop cancer. Sending people with Aids to a modern day leprosy colony will not cure nor stop aids. The same holds true for trying to fight a war against an addiction.
This fundamental shift in direction is definitely necessary if we ever hope to help people that need addiction treatment. Its interesting that Joe Biden, a candidate for the Democratic primary would choose this time to sponsor such a bill. Its actually interesting because he seems to be taking a step towards fixing something that has been broken in Government for many years as opposed to spouting platitudes at a fund raising convention.
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