JAIL VS. REHAB

Ren in Legislation
August 27, 2023

Can Washington’s New Drug Policy Improve Access to Addiction Treatment?

Washington State recently passed a law making it easier for drug addicts to access treatment without facing criminal punishment for possession infractions. Yet, unlike similar Oregon legislation passed last year, the Washington law does not legalize drugs or decriminalize possession.

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KH
Karen Hadley in News
April 9, 2022

Oregon’s Big Drug Decriminalization Gamble

Oregon decriminalized personal-use quantities of drugs in 2020 with the intention that this new law would help drug users go to rehab rather than jail. This has turned out to be a big gamble that the State was possibly not ready for.

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Ren in Drug-Related News
October 26, 2021

South Carolina Prosecutor Sends Addicts to Treatment, Not Jail

A South Carolina prosecutor is using a federal grant to send drug addicts who’ve committed nonviolent crimes into treatment programs, not incarceration. It is becoming more and more common for people addicted to drugs to be directed towards treatment, not jail.

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Ren in Drugs and Crime
September 7, 2021

Treat Addiction, Don’t Penalize It

Though the War on Drugs has been waged in the U.S. for 50 years, it has never been effective in curbing drug addiction. In fact, America's drug problem has only gotten worse.

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Ren in Prison system
June 9, 2021

Should We Build Prisons or Drug Rehab Centers?

America has been jailing people with drug problems en masse for 40+ years. This has been a widely unworkable approach to this country’s addiction crisis, proven so repeatedly by a wealth of research and study.

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Ren in Drugs and Crime
January 5, 2020

Drug Addiction and Overcrowded Jails

The subject of drug addiction and incarceration has been a contentious one for some time. Many people still feel as though drug use is a crime and therefore should be punished as such. But as the years go by and as our understanding of addiction improves, more and more people are starting to see that drug use is indicative of a severe behavioral crisis…

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