The United States is losing the battle against drug addiction, and has been for decades. Our nation is currently gripped by a heroin epidemic that is claiming lives in cities and towns across the country, from rural Vermont to Hollywood, California. Programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program exist to help people get off heroin with the latest opiate maintenance medications. But what can our government do to ensure that more of the people who need the help of programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program actually get it?
1) Make Heroin Addiction a Health Issue, Not a Legal Issue
The current practice of treating drug addiction like a criminal act and prosecuting drug addicts as criminals isn’t working, because once people get addicted to drugs, they no longer really have a choice in whether they use or not. Only medical intervention from specialized recovery programs like our outpatient detox can help.
Criminalizing drug addiction and punishing addicts only makes them more reluctant to seek the help of professionals in the drug and alcohol treatment industry. The government can help more people get access to outpatient programs, detox and other professional care by treating heroin addiction as a public health issue. The government should be shifting its resources to prevention and education by encouraging treatment through programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program.
2) Increase Availability to Recovery Programs
Many heroin addicts would love to enter recovery programs, but they can’t because this type of treatment isn’t accessible to them. Emergency rooms treat addicts for overdoses and then turn them back out onto the streets. Insurance companies refuse to cover drug treatment. Making services like our outpatient detox program accessible to anyone who needs them, on request, like any other medical service, would allow many more people struggling with heroin addiction to get the help they need.
3) Our Government Needs to Invest in Our Youth
Many young people find themselves in need of programs like outpatient detox programs because of a lack of initiatives that can effectively keep kids off drugs. Education and prevention, after school programs to keep kids off the streets, mentor programs for kids who don’t have good role models, job training and skills building and summer job programs can all keep kids out of recoery program to begin with. The Higher Education Opportunity Act, which strips students convicted of drug offenses of their right to financial aid, needs to be repealed so that those kids who do find their way into addiction treatment can still go on to build better lives for themselves.
4) Law Enforcement Should Focus on Violent Offenders
There’s no reason to keep expending government resources on street-level dealers and individual users. These people should be remanded to treatment programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program instead of given prison time. Law enforcement can focus its efforts and resources on stopping the smugglers and cartels responsible for making heroin available to the people in our outpatient detox Delray Beach program.
5) Individual States Should Be Allowed to Try Their Own Approaches
The federal government often opposes state-level reforms in drug policy that could help drug addicts, like increasing the availability of programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program. State initiatives could make it easier for the people who need our outpatient detox Delray Beach program to get access to it, as long as the federal government respects states’ rights to try new approaches to the growing drug problem. Factors that influence the need for programs like our outpatient detox Delray Beach program could vary drastically on a state-by-state level.
6) Expand Needle Exchange and Syringe Deregulation
Blood-borne diseases like HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C are real threats to the people who end up needing outpatient detox and other treatment programs. Not only do needle exchange and syringe deregulation programs help stop the spread of these diseases, they can also help get more people into programs like ours.
If you or someone you love is struggling with heroin addiction, our outpatient detox Delray Beach program can help. Call 888-699-5679 today.