Federal Drug Official: Treating Drug Addiction With Incarceration Is Ineffective And ‘Dangerous,’ Calls For Overhaul
Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has stressed the urgent need to overhaul America’s approach to drug addiction.
In a recent opinion piece published in STAT and republished on NIDA’s website, Volkow criticized the prevailing notion that incarcerating drug users is an effective means of treatment, emphasizing its detrimental impact on public health.
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“It remains a common belief that simply stopping people from taking drugs while in jail or prison is an effective approach to treatment. But that belief is inaccurate and dangerous,” Volkow said.
She pointed out that drug overdose is the leading cause of death …