The possession of grams of a substance (even for personal use) is enough to be considered a felony and cause an addict to be convicted and go to jail, lose employment, and many more negatives. Incarceration for substance abuse is much more harmful to addicts than good, contrary to the popular belief that prison could rehabilitate their choices because they are forced to think about their addiction during the time that they serve in jail.

The stigma against those who are addicted to such substances is causing the belief that punishing these addicts with jail and unemployment actually has a higher risk for worsening the addiction or relapse. Decriminalizing possession of such substances could actually lessen the struggle for addicts, as shown through Oregon’s recent bill to lessen the punishment for drug possession.

In Conor Friedersdorf’s article on The Atlantic, “The War on Drugs Turns 40,” Friedersdorf cites that President Nixon declared that the war on drugs was his number one priority, but President Obama later stated that the War on Drugs has failed. Since the beginning of the pandemic, deaths due to overdose have increased by 30% ending up at 100,000 overdose deaths during the first year of the pandemic.

According to Friedersdorf’s article, a chart states that the DEA’s budget on the war on drugs has gone from $65 million to $2.6 billion over the past 37 years. Rather than enforcing more laws and punishments for substance abuse, the solution may be to actually decriminalize drug possession.

President Obama also held the opinion that addiction should be treated as a health and medical issue, not a legal issue. Decriminalizing drug possession could destigmatize drug possession and may create a safer space for drug addicts to seek help.

Maia Szalavitz’s New York Times article, “Treating Addiction as a Crime Doesn’t Work. What Oregon is Doing Just Might.” highlights Morgan Godvin, who was incarcerated in Oregon for personal heroin possession.

While in jail, her addiction treatment was declined and she had to completely quit cold turkey, which actually had caused her injection use to heavily increase nine months after the first time she was in jail. She had also become unemployed after another arrest, which worsens addiction further.

With Oregon’s new bill to decriminalize drugs, they acknowledge that addiction cannot be treated with punishment and incarceration. It must be treated by making drug rehabilitation more available and destroying the stigma around drugs. Drug addicts know drugs are bad for them, however, punishing addicts will only cause them to turn to drugs again for comfort from the world.

The war on drugs cannot be solved with stricter punishments, but rather with recognizing that these punishments will not deter everyone from drugs. Prisons, more often than not, have ineffective treatment, horrible conditions, ignorance to issues, and need much reform.

Now, Oregon only sends a $100 fine if found with possession of illegal drugs. It is common for people to believe that creating more lax laws in regards to drug possession will increase hard drug use, however, its main purpose is to destigmatize drug use in order to encourage help for addicts.

Lessening the punishment for drug addicts all over the United States could both help and hurt the war on drugs. It can help by creating a society more open to providing help for those who are addicted to hard drugs, and it can also hurt the war on drugs by possibly getting more people into drugs now that the laws are relaxed.

However, treatment for substance abuse should be reformed, especially for those in prison and those who recently got released. Rehabilitation centers should be more widely available for those who are struggling with current drug use, or a possible relapse. Overall, the stigma against drug use could be more relaxed after decriminalizing drugs in more states, creating a newer, more open society providing easier rehabilitation of substance abuse.