This is the seventh in the series “How America Heals,”
in which Nicholas Kristof examines the interwoven crises devastating working-class America and explores paths to recovery.
Twenty women with felony records and a history of drug use are standing on the stage in a crowded auditorium in Tulsa, and the audience is rising in a standing ovation. The women are teary as they see the cops who arrested them, applauding wildly. It’s the happiest of graduations, and through the raucous cheering one glimpses a better way of dealing with drug and alcohol abuse.
You see, against all odds, this is an uplifting article about America’s curse of addiction.
The graduation was from the single best program I know of to fight substance use. It’s called Women in Recovery, and it’s a diversion program for women in the greater Tulsa area who otherwise face prison for drug-related offenses.
Women in Recovery says that 70 percent of women who start the program complete it, and of those who graduate, just 3.7 percent have returned to prison within three years of graduation. Roughly 130 women are in the program at any time.
As I watched the graduation, my imagination soared: What if everyone with a drug problem who was caught up in the criminal justice system had access to a comprehensive and long-term recovery program like this?
I dream a bit more: What if high-quality treatment programs were available free to all 48 million Americans over the age of 12 who, according to federal estimates, have a substance use disorder involving drugs, alcohol or both?
That could cost tens of billions of dollars. But anyone who thinks we can’t afford effective drug treatment doesn’t understand the costs of addiction.
@nytopinion “I thought that drugs and money were going to solve all my problems,” says Katelyn Fullbright, who struggled with addiction for years before being charged with drug trafficking at the age of 22. “It’s a survival instinct, I think, whenever you’re living in active addiction, to think a certain way. You get so caught up in that type of lifestyle that you don’t know any different.” Katelyn found help in Women in Recovery, an addiction treatment program based in Tulsa, Okla. The comprehensive addiction treatment program typically lasts 18 months and aims at restoring women’s mental health and preparing them to enter the workforce. “The thing about Women in Recovery is that not only do they focus on the addiction, like rehabs and other facilities, they focus on the trauma, the ‘Why do you use?’” says Katelyn. “That’s a game changer right there.” #addictionrecovery #nytopinion ♬ original sound – New York Times Opinion
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