Insanity or Torture

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Addiction is defined as repeating uncontrollable drinking and using behavior despite negative consequences. Incarceration is both a form of punishment as well as a possible deterent. Torture is defined as the act of deliberately inflicting physical or psychological pain on a person (or living organism) in order to fulfill some desire of the torturer or compel some action from the victim.

Given the above definitions, how do we as a society continue to justify the repeated incarceration of addicts with little to no rehabilitation. Are we as a society actually insane and do not realize the implications of our actions or are we in fact sadistic and enjoy torturing the vulnerable addict by incarcerating them knowing full well that doing so will have little to no impact on their future behavior? The third option is that we simply do not care at all. Regardless of the financial cost and the impact on society. We have given up on helping the most vulnerable and psychologically damaged part of our society. In other words, you had better not have mental health or addiction issues in this day and age in our society as we will simply torture and forget about you as we either do not care or find enjoyment in doing so.

When will we have enough evidence as a society to realize that incarceration of an addict simply amounts to torture and is not a deterent. On top of that, do we not have overwhelming evidence that once released, the majority of addicts will actually re-offend as they have not been given any rehabilitation at all? When you really break this down into the most basic of definitions and review our actions as a society, it seems almost ludicrous that we continue to incarcerate addicts at all. Is it not time for a change? Are we as a society going to continue this insanity and torture? FIGHTING INSANITY WITH INSANITY DOES NOT WORK!