FROM CRIMINALIZATION TO REHABILITATION: Abandoning “The War on Drugs” THESIS EDIT | Page 15

maintaining your health – those things that are usually there coloring our brain’ s activity become submerged, and a single motivation emerges: [ using ] the drug,” says Dr. Pinsky.“ The brain’ s biology confuses the message of the drug with the message of survival itself; that’ s how powerful drugs are.”
Addiction specialist Dr. Gabor Maté uniquely explains,“ The problem in drug addiction is not the‘ free will’ but the‘ free won’ t.’ Their brains cannot say‘ no.’”. So, in this way, addiction“ diminished the power of choice.”
It becomes apparent, in this context, that rational choice as a true concept, is no longer something an addict has access to. It’ s not a matter of wanting to do the right thing, because when they realize their lives are falling apart, their brains are still telling them to choose the drugs over other obligations. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addicts“ display an apparent lack of appreciation of the magnitude of cumulative problems and complications. The still developing frontal lobes of adolescents may both compound these deficits in executive functioning and predispose youngsters to engage in‘ high risk’ behaviors, including engaging in alcohol or other drug use. The profound drive or craving to use substances or engage in apparently rewarding behaviors, which is seen in many patients with addiction, underscores the compulsive or avolitional aspect of this disease. This is the connection with‘ powerlessness’ over addiction and‘ unmanageability’ of life, as is described in Step 1 of 12 Steps programs.”
PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
The purpose and function of a law, simply put, is to achieve a certain goal. Laws are not meant to be poetic and abstract; those qualities should be reserved for more romantic endeavors. Laws are also not meant to stand as ideological symbols of an attractive, yet