Summary
Drug addiction treatment seems to be fully accepted and effective today; however, it has its issues. All specialists chase the same goal – spare the patient from the drug abuse, but there are differences in their methods. In this way, some state that the objectives and aims of treatment should be to entirely drug-free the drug addict and that treatment should include drug-free techniques of achieving this aim. Others say that treatment should improve an addict’s ability to function in society rather than ensure that he or she is drug-free. On the one hand, outpatient drug-free programs do not use medication, such as methadone, as part of their treatment, they enroll clients who live in the community, and they provide therapy and counseling as part of their treatment (Goode, 2014, p. 437). On the other hand, there are such programs as methadone maintenance. I think that the last program is not the most effective approach to drug addiction treatment, and many studies support it; this program can only be used in exceptional cases.
The Preferred Approach
I suppose that the drug-free method is more reliable and effective for the majority of patients. Medications and equipment can assist in alleviating withdrawal symptoms when detoxing. Detoxification is not “therapy” in and of itself but rather the initial stage in the process. After that, I think that outpatient behavioral treatment would be a great part of the treatment program for all patients. It includes cognitive-behavioral therapy, multidimensional family therapy, motivational interviewing, and motivational incentives. This part of a drug-free treatment would be effective for every individual because psychological factor plays an important part in the drug addiction treatment, besides physical addiction. Overall, every patient has individual requirements for the treatment, and it must be the most important factor in choosing the treatment approach.
Concepts
I found the chapter “Drag Control: The Current System” very interesting, and I have learned many important concepts to understand the topic. Thus, the Drug Control Act establishes drug schedules or classifications, each with its own set of regulations and penalties for infractions. To make a complicated issue easier to understand, the law regulates three types of psychoactive substances or drugs. Moreover, the chapter provided information about three categories of drugs: legal drugs, such as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine are all legal, although they may be subject to age, place of usage, driving, and point of sale restrictions, prescribed drugs, or a pharmaceutical medicine that can only be obtained with a medical prescription. Over-the-counter medications, on the other hand, do not require a prescription, and the category of completely illegal drugs, or drugs that are not prescribed by a specialist or purchased from a pharmacy. This category includes cocaine, LSD, PCP, heroin, mescaline, and others.
The Punitive Approach
In addition, the chapter contained information about the punitive approach. Basically, punitive justice argues that punishing offenders will make them accept responsibility for their actions and that inflicting suffering would stop criminal activity. When it comes to drugs, the usage of a substance is not in dispute for entirely legal substances; possession and selling for almost any and all purposes—including intoxication—is allowed. In the case of entirely illegal drugs, the opposite is true: possession and selling for no purpose are both legal. It makes no difference why someone wants to use heroin in the United States; even medical applications are illegal.
References
Goode, Erich. “Drugs in American society.” Law enforcement, drug courts, and drug treatment. Pp. 418-444.