Dirty UA on probation but stay free?

[Minor activist]

That question has gotten enough traction to work its way up to the MA supreme court.

The probationer has been making headway with the argument that she has as little control of her actions as one of the rats who starves while endlessly hitting the lever for cocaine.

Psych professionals and addiction treatment professionals disagree.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ion-condition/

Julie Eldred, 29, admitted stealing jewelry last year to support her opioid habit. She was placed on probation with the condition that she refrain from using drugs and submit to random drug testing. She agreed to these terms, but 11 days later tested positive for fentanyl. The judge ordered her to prison until an inpatient treatment bed was available to treat her addiction.
Ms. Eldred now claims that the abstinence condition and imprisonment for failing it were unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment because she is a drug addict. According to her, drug addicts cannot say no to drugs: They cannot help themselves. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard argument in this case in early October and will soon decide the issue.

[xolady]

Originally Posted by Minor activist

That question has gotten enough traction to work its way up to the MA supreme court.

The probationer has been making headway with the argument that she has as little control of her actions as one of the rats who starves while endlessly hitting the lever for cocaine.

Psych professionals and addiction treatment professionals disagree.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ion-condition/

Good luck with this one, what ever happened to "just say no"!!!!

[ConCraft]

Though drug addiction may be an overwhelming personal problem to deal with, the fact of the matter is that the addict would not have become addicted if but not for making the poor decision to use to begin with.

When society allows us to escape the consequences of our own actions or decisions, society as a whole loses.

Accountability ... a fundamental principal of life. Only in ultra-liberal MA could this case have ever reached an appellate court.

[yourself]

Originally Posted by ConCraft

Though drug addiction may be an overwhelming personal problem to deal with, the fact of the matter is that the addict would not have become addicted if but not for making the poor decision to use to begin with.

When society allows us to escape the consequences of our own actions or decisions, society as a whole loses.

Accountability ... a fundamental principal of life. Only in ultra-liberal MA could this case have ever reached an appellate court.

not necessarily. A lot of pharmacy grade opioid addictions come from taking prescribed medication. I did 3 months of opioids after my accident, starting with fentanyl in the field. Without a good doctor who weaned me off as my pain level decreased, I could have very easily become an addict.

I love how people automatically assume they know exactly how a person became an addict. And yes, how a person became an addict is an issue. So is busting a person and not offering treatment. There is very, very good treatment here in MA, but the criminal justice system, with the State already acknowledging the Opioid Epedemic, bears some responsibility to actually feed addicts into appropriate programs and help give them the best chance possible to succeed at probation.

Personally, I'm not that ultra-liberal when it comes to opioids. I mean, opioid addictions and the "epidemic" of opioid addiction isn't all that new (who remembers heroin-chic, or DeQuincy's Confessions of an Opium Eater) We do have new pharmaceuticals that make such addictions much more deadly, especially for cops, firefighters, paramedics, and hospitals who have to deal with these people, but of course, if you go, "personal responsibility" then you'd think that cops and doctors who ODed and died because of fentanyl on somebody's clothes deserved it - they should have been more responsible with their hands and not gotten them near people who looked like they were dealing with an OD.

[Minor activist]

What struck me here was how radical the proposed remedy is and how far it's already gotten.

[yourself]

Originally Posted by Minor activist

What struck me here was how radical the proposed remedy is and how far it's already gotten.

I haven't read the case, but yeah, we in MA are very serious about the opioid crisis. I'm assuming this isn't your typical, kid started taking opioids from grandma,s house because she was bored sort of thing. Further, I believe the Court is supposed to get a person in rehab, and not just say, "don't do it anymore" especially if it's an active addiction with no recovery in place.

Will it work? Dunno. Think it's a facts and circumstances sort of thing.

[Minor activist]

Originally Posted by yourself

I'm assuming this isn't your typical, kid started taking opioids from grandma,s house because she was bored sort of thing.

Quite rightly.

She began taking prescription drugs in high school. She was popular, a cheerleader whose adoptive parents showered her with affection. But she was painfully shy.
It was only when she and her friends began getting high that she finally felt comfortable in her own skin.
“It made me feel like I could fit in wherever I wanted,” she said. But unlike her friends, Eldred began using drugs almost every day, becoming so addicted that she would suffer sleepless nights, sweating and shivering, if she were sober for long.
In her 20s, Eldred began using heroin after she went into a detox program where she met people using the drug. By the time she was 25, she was stealing to get opiates.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...FoJ/story.html