When I first saw the headline of a recent news story – Study supports call to allow addicts to shape treatment – I thought it was a pretty crazy idea. If addicts were capable of determining their own treatment, wouldn’t they already be off drugs or alcohol? Then I read the story and couldn’t see how it was possible to do a successful alcohol or drug rehab without the basics they were talking about.

The story started with a man who, years ago, finally got up the courage to go to his doctor to ask for help with his drinking problem. The doctor simply told him to “pull up his socks and stop drinking.” If that’s all there was to it, the number of alcoholics and drug addicts in society wouldn’t even be a problem. Most addicts and alcoholics want to quit. But they can’t, without help.

I would hope that doctor has now learned that when a drug addict or alcoholic finally asks for help, you better jump on it. It takes a lot to get to that point.

Finally, without the help of his doctor, the man got help. And he is now helping others in cooperation with a U.K. charity.

What’s the difference between his program and others? In addition to 24-hour support and other community back-up, the program also has a small fund from which recovering addicts can borrow to tend to basic needs like having enough money to take the bus to work.

It’s amazing that something this trivial can prevent someone from successfully recovering from drug or alcohol abuse. But, really, it’s sometimes the little things that trip us up most.

All drug and alcohol rehab programs, to be successful, have to take into consideration all the aspects of a person’s life that could possibly trip them up once they complete their time in rehab and get back into the stream of life. If you’re helping someone through recovery, make sure you ask about and pay attention to the little things.

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A lot of people blame the drug problem on the fact that drugs are illegal. They compare it to the time of prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, when it was illegal to make, sell and transport alcohol. But it didn’t stop people from wanting to drink and being willing to pay for it. What followed was a vast, criminal, violent underground (and some of it not so underground) of manufacturers and suppliers. It tied up law enforcement resources, and many law enforcement officials were corrupted by the criminal element.

Another viewpoint presented about legalization of drugs – as with alcohol in prohibition – is that individuals have the right to put whatever they want into their body. It is not the government’s right to tell someone what they can and cannot drink. The same is being said of drugs.

Last, but not least, is the fact that drugs being illegal makes them attractive. Like a kid who gets a thrill out of doing something simply because he’s told he can’t.

Supporters think ending the War on Drugs, and making them legal, would eventually, if not immediately reduce crime, the number of people in prison, the number of addicts, and the number of people in need of drug rehab.

In the many, many articles and forums about legalization of drugs, the comments usually come from people supporting legalization. Among the commenters on this article, John Stossel: War on drugs worse than drugs, for example, you’ll find only one person who disagrees that drugs should be legalized.

I’d like to hear from people who disagree – who think drugs should remain illegal – and their arguments in support of it. Check out the arguments made by the commenters on the above article, and voice your opinion.

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