Celebrity Russell Brand Touts Drug Rehab’s Importance in Recovery

Celebrity Russell Brand shares his thoughts in a recent article about a different approach to dealing with those who are caught with illegal drugs. He believes that rather than locking them up in jail, they should be sent to rehabilitation for the addiction.

Brand says compassion is the key to helping those who are addicted get passed the drugs to be able to return to a normal life. He believes drug addiction should be treated as a disease rather than a criminal offense.

Some may agree that it not such a bad idea. When a person is incarcerated they are often housed with others who have committed similar crimes. One of the issues with continuous drug use has to do with the person’s environment.

If they are in a situation where drugs can be easily obtained, then the likeliness of that person ever escaping the drug life is slim.

This could be the same case when those people are in jail or prison. They are in the environment where they are around those whose lives exist solely for the next fix. They are not allowed to be in a situation where there are positive influences for them to mirror. Instead they may be only developing a bigger problem.

Drug rehabilitation programs are filled with people with similar problems as well, but the difference is that they are there to get better and to eliminate the dangerous substances from their lives.

The idea of peer pressure exists for a reason. If you are in a situation that forces you to think the same way as the others around you, then you are probably more likely to act that way. It can also work against you depending on the surroundings.

Maybe it is a valid point to at least explore the option of giving those who are caught with drugs an opportunity to seek treatment rather than continue to feed their habit.