I began experimenting with drugs in my early teens. I became addicted in my 20s. Through treatment, I overcame these addictions. I want to respond to Rod Grams' Nov. 23 column. I have not talked about my past openly before because of the intense stigma this country attaches to drug use. I decided I would no longer remain silent when, in the town where I live, a man who took the life of a small child and the woman who covered it up received ludicrously short prison sentences. Real decisions, not just sound bites, are needed: Given limited resources in our criminal justice system, who is more appropriately imprisoned, drug users who rarely harm anyone other than themselves, or violent criminals? [continues 139 words]
I became addicted in my 20s. Through treatment, I overcame these addictions. I want to respond to Rod Grams' Nov. 23 column. I have not talked about my past openly before because of the intense stigma this country attaches to drug use. I decided I would no longer remain silent when, in the town where I live, a man who took the life of a small child and the woman who covered it up received ludicrously short prison sentences. Real decisions, not just sound bites, are needed: Given limited resources in our criminal justice system, who is more appropriately imprisoned, drug users who rarely harm anyone other than themselves, or violent criminals? [continues 134 words]
