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Treatment News

“Candidates for R.I. governor discuss homelessness, mental illness” (The Providence Journal, 7/29/2010)

“Sensitivity to mental illness was the hallmark of retiring Judge Stephen Erickson” (The Providence Journal, 7/25/2010)

“Josiah D. Rich, MD: Punishment and discipline” (The Providence Journal, 7/24/2010)

“The Case for Treating Drug Addicts in Prison” (Newsweek, 6/29/2010)

One result of criminalizing the drug problem is that U.S. prisons are crowded with addicts, not just dealers. Likewise, hospital emergency rooms are constantly called upon to aid substance abusers. In 2008, says Dr. Brian J. Zink, just 46 patients accounted for more than 1,700 visits to Rhode Island Hospital’s emergency room. In every case, alcohol or drug abuse was the cause. Jail or the E.R. are a wasteful, largely ineffective approach to managing addiction.

In particular, the paradigm for handling drug abuse drastically needs revising. But decriminalizing it will not do much good if treatment options are not widely available. Unfortunately, like many states, Rhode Island has too little to offer. A 2007 federal survey of 107,000 Rhode Islanders struggling with addiction found that just 12 percent received treatment. Imagine if any other disease — diabetes or cancer, for instance — was met with such an anemic response…

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