I was listening to a public radio series today – the first of the series – on the three strikes law. In case you’re not familiar with this law, it basically demands very stiff mandatory sentences for a third offense. Several states have adopted the three strikes law, but exactly how it is defined and executed is different in different locations. In California, a person is sentenced to life after three felony convictions. A non-violent drug-related crime could result in life in prison, with no drug treatment available.

One story on the series was that of a mother whose son, Shane, got involved with drugs. He stole a few things from around the house and from the neighbor to get drugs. She didn’t know what to do about it; she settled on tough love, which she interpreted as ‘take a stand.’ So, she pressed charges, and convinced the neighbor to do the same. She thought Shane would get drug rehab. Instead, he went to prison on two counts of residential burglary.

Years later, Shane was with a friend when the friend sold an undercover police officer $20 of cocaine. Shane was not involved in the crime, but the police identified him as the ‘lookout’ and he was sentenced to 25 years to life. He’s now been in prison for 14 years. He’s 41 years old.

I don’t want to make Shane’s mother feel any worse than she already does, but I want to make a point about tough love, about taking a stand. Taking a stand is refusing to buy the lies, refusing to ignore the situation, refusing to look at it as simply a ‘phase’ he’s going through – and many other variations of the same – and demanding that your son, daughter, whoever, gets into a drug rehab center.

Exposing our loved ones to the possibility of being surrounded by hardened criminals in an  dangerous environment where they could get beaten, raped, and even killed is taking things too far.

If someone you care about is in trouble, make sure that whatever stand you take includes drug treatment. And do it quickly, before they get involved in the criminal justice system.

Our justice system may be a lot better than in some other countries, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Witness Shane’s situation, for example.

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