Michael Douglas' Son Should Not Go to Prison
Life imitating art always intrigues me. Michael Douglas who starred in Traffic, the Academy-Award-winning film about the drug war in America, now faces a real life situation similar to the role he played in the film. Douglas played the United States Drug Czar whose daughter was addicted to heroin. He struggled with his daughter's addiction and the futility of the drug war.
Late in June of this year his son, Cameron Douglas, was arrested by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) in a sting operation for possession of methaphetamines with the intent distribute in New York City. It was not the first brush with the law for Cameron who has several arrests for cocaine possession and a 1996 bust for drunk driving. Reports also point to the good possibility that he has a severe drug problem.
The role of drugs and drug addiction loom large in our society. The question I pose is this. Should Cameron Douglas be put in prison or should he be able to seek drug treatment instead? Treatment is a valid vehicle for fighting the demons of addiction, and an effective alternative to the government's use of incarceration and punitive measures in response to low-level, nonviolent drug law offenses stemming from addiction.
According to Justice Department statistics, the U.S. holds a firm lead in maintaining the most prisoners of any country in the world -- now at 2.3 million and rising. There are an estimated 500,000 drug offenders in prison. Additional hundreds of thousands are incarcerated for drug-related violations of parole and probation, as well as for other crimes related to drug addiction. Criminal justice experts attribute the exploding U.S. prison population to harsh sentencing laws and record numbers of drug law offenders entering the system, many of whom have substance abuse problems.
Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter or a medical problem? For most people, treatment is much more effective way to overcome addiction, yet our prisons are full of drug addicted individuals. Nonviolent drug offenders should be given an opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time, for their drug use. This would be a more effective and much more affordable solution for the individual and the community.
Addiction affects tens of millions of people around the world. For most, it fills a void in their lives and becomes a crippling crutch. How best to treat addiction is a serious question we need to explore. Rich or poor, young or old, addiction has no boundaries - but the drug war does. Our 30-plus-year war on drugs has actually stifled the open debate society should be having about addiction and how best to deal with it.
I say give Cameron Douglas the treatment he needs instead of imprisonment. Why do I say this? I too faced a similar situation. Instead of treatment I received a 15 years to life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug Laws of New York State. I was granted clemency by Governor George Pataki in 1997 after serving 12 years in prison for a first time non-violent drug sale. It was a waste of valuable tax dollars and human life to send me to prison for all those years.
Instead of demonizing addicted individuals and sending them to prison we need an alternative approach. Let's shift the focus from criminalization in drug policy and support a public health model. Not sending Cameron to prison would be a good example of taking a step in that direction. It's time to treat addiction for what it is -- a medical problem, not a criminal one.
Anthony Papa is the author of 15 to Life and a communication specialist for Drug Policy Alliance.
Follow Anthony Papa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AnthonyPapa
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As an ex meth dealer who went to prison, I can also attest to the absolute link between dealing and addiction. Dealing would have never even occured to me had I not need to support my habit.. The popular myth is of the sleazy slacker hanging out around the park, trying to recruit; or the coldhearted gangster kingpin who never touches the stuff. The reality is that an addict gets a little more than he needs and sells the excess to using buddies. They ask if he can do it again, and get some more for another friend or tow, and within a few months he realizes he can pay the rent--selling only to people he knows and their friends. All consenting adults, most with jobs they hold onto--feeding the illusion he does no damage.
I am sober and abhor crystal meth now. But I also think the war on drugs does far more damage than good. Rehab was what I needed and would have cost the system far less than prison. It's YOUR tax dollars going down the drain.
He wasn't just using drugs but distributing them - there's a difference - and it was Meth.
Meth does so much more damage to the brain.
No difference though if you are well-connected or not - JAIL FOR THE BOY
He might finally wake up in his cell and see how he is wasting his life.
There isn't a huge difference when you consider the entire "war on drugs" is a wasteful failure. What does sending him to prison accomplish for anyone except to tax you and I's wallets? Did you understand any of what this article was saying?
Revolving door rehab for rich kids like this and Patrick Kennedy.
Put him in jail and his father can visit him behind bars where the kid can get all the heroin he can afford.
Who cares if he was set up. he was selling pounds of this crap. The two tier system is bull crap.
either everyone goes or no one there should not be a special dispensation because your father has given you every available gift and you pissed it all away.
Cameron should absolutely be given treatment for what is a well documented history in addiction. And those who are cooperating by setting him up ought to be revealed given the way the media has attacked Cameron and let people decide if they should be given a "get out of jail" card for setting someone who is "strung out" and using meth -- making him incapable of making rational decisions. I am not excusing his missteps, but for the DEA to have other addicts and users be given leniency in exchange for setting him up is what ought to be discussed in the media. The reports online indicate that he was asked by a longtime friend to find crystal meth. The government game of having criminals "flip" by setting up someone "bigger" is what disturbs me most. And he is a great headline.
Soo....
Because he got high off his own supply, that makes it all okay?
To me, the question should be: Why is the demand for drugs so huge and growing? We're all missing a big point when we have to anesthesize ourselves into oblivion to cope with life, be it legal drugs or illegal - we're all addicted to numb the pain of chasing our false values (money) at all costs and what has become a meaningless existence . Madness.
I agree. In this case the DEA busted his assistant and two buyers who help set Cameron up. They know Douglas is a addict and a small time player but using him and his fathers fame to blow up their so called 3 year investigation. From another blog I just wrote on Huff Post I tell how Cameron can face a longer sentence under federal mandatory minimums than Colombia's biggest drug kingpin who just plead guilty and is facing a 10 year minimum - 45 year sentence. In reality Cameron can do more time than the boss of a Colombian cocaine cartel that smuggled some $10 billion worth of cocaine into the U.S. and murdered about 1,500 individuals.
NYCbred ask Anthony Papa after his 12 years in prison if he would ever deal drugs again? Treatment in exchange for a half pount of meth...? I do not think so. this is not pot or pills.
To blame the DEA for setting him up is lame. All of law enforcement operates on leads by snitches to get the next guy up and down the line. Without those leads the bad guys win...PERIOD!
If you are not excusing his missteps then you agree he is guilty of a crime that he knew well in advance of the consequences. So if you can't do the time...
Last point his Dad clearly cut him off and washed his hands on treatment so that ship has sailed. We both know he will not see a life sentence but ten years will perhpas save his life just like it did for Anthony Papa.
I agree with many, many points you made here but Douglas is the wrong poster boy. Moving large quantities of meth doesn't make him a very sympathetic character for the public nor necessarily a good candidate for rehab (his addiction history & current drug use is not mentioned).
However, Cameron Douglas has been getting busted since he was around 17. If had received some kind of forced intervention & treatment alternative earlier on, it may have helped him. THAT would be a good point to make.
People need to realize, the drug laws as we know them along with the harsh sentencing for both users and "distributors" have only been in effect for the last 35 years. Society functioned just fine up until that point.
The prohibition of substances can have the opposite of the intended effect - instead of decreasing supply & demand, prohibition can actually increase supply & demand. That's why some believe total legalization, including legalization of the more dangerous drugs is the answer.
I do know we have to change things. Filling up prisons with mostly poor people & then building more is just not acceptable.
But I think those of us who want to work for change, need to make it palatable for the public so they will support it. The place to start is with marijuana reform and publicizing cases where the public can sympathize with the defendants. That's why Cameron is the wrong poster boy for any legalization campaign. ; )
"Reports also point to the good possibility that he has a severe drug problem."
It would behoove a drug dealer to falsely manufacture the picture of himself as having a severe drug problem
Then, his defense lawyer has a chance to get him off.
But if you're dealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth, who gives if you have a "drug problem"
You already make enough money to pay for your own rehab.
in addition, his family has plenty of dough. he doesn't WANT to rehab, so don't waste taxpayer money on him.
wait a minute. might want to do some research before you make this spoiled brat your poster child for
drug rehab.................this punk has been in trouble since he was barely a teenager............and not just with drugs....all that living in the shadow of daddy and big brother's shadows, wallowing in self-pity, why me, too much money and not enough attention, been bailed out of every thing, never held accountable
for anything excuses............see the picture emerging here?
No , I see a pictue of you being poisoned by the regular propoganda of the DEA. You are forgeting that human beings are human and they make mistakes. So now you want him to fry for 10 years or more. for a non violent dug crime. I would have to say you are evil if you do
Sorry, but we're not talking some lids of pot or even a kilo of cocaine. We're talking a LOT of meth. It's different from any other drug.
ah that would be no. i'm all for decriminalization, legalization, emptying the prisons, and rehab for anyone who wants it .i'd be the first one lined up to buy some. what i was talking about was making THIS PARTICULAR PERSON the poster boy for that effort. pick someone without the laundry list of past non-drug related transgressions swept under the rug by a very high profile family and lots of money.
"fry"? really? as in electrocute or flipping burgers in the prison
kitchen or would he be sent to that prison in the desert
where that mad warden makes the prisoners sleep in tents? probably not, his
family name alone would spare him that..............
there are thousands of others to go to bat for who made a mistake or even lots of them, this snot is not one of them.
"I would have to say you are evil if you do"
You are calling someone "evil" for suggesting Cameron Douglas accept the consequences of dealing methamphetamine?
Wow.
Somehow, I don't see him going to prison, at least not for any 12 to 15 years at least, maybe I'm wrong. Either way, he definitely got arrested for a drug crime in the wrong country, and will likely be a recidivist according to the statistics.
is this satire? Seriously, the drug dealer should not go to jail?
"Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter or a medical problem?"
It's a public health problem. It should be treated like alcohol and tobacco. Education and unfettered access to treatment should be the approach. Sending these people to jail is just crazy.
In essence these people are being charged with a crime against themselves and that just doesn't make sense. Do you go to jail for riding a bicycle without a helmet? Do you go to jail for smoking tobacco? Of course not. These are considered personal decisions.
I'm one who believes the Drug War has been complete failure much like Alcohol Prohibition was its day. It just makes the criminals rich, destroys countless lives and costs the country billions of dollars yearly in enforcement, legal expenses and imprisonment.
That said.... if Cameron Douglas was trafficking in methamphetamine he should be prosecuted. Meth is a nasty drug. We're not talking about 'pot' here. Meth kills people. Many believe it's worse than even heroin.
Big difference between a user of illegal drugs and a trafficker or dealer.
Douglas is a dealer, a trafficker. After reading today's revelations, Douglas engaged in a very thriving business for YEARS. At one point, he participated in a transaction in which he personally handled $48,000 in cash and in meth.
He knew he was doing something illegal and according to the DEA wiretaps, he planned to continue.
In other news, the updated autopsy report of recently deceased TV pitchman reports that cocaine use contributed to his death from apparent heart failure.
I agree completely with Mr. Papa.
People should not demonized for using one drug over another. Prescription drugs cause far more injury than all the illegal drugs combined. (When I read the comments I see how completely some people were brainwashed by government propaganda.) They deliberately created hysteria about illegal drugs, and then continue to erode our civil liberties with this bogus war on drugs. The result is we are living in a police state now, with more people in jail than anywhere else.
So we should be ecstatic about the meth dealers down the block? And just love it when their home blows up when the batch of meth their cooking goes awry? Or not worry about the brain damage it does to their kids from the fumes? Or how about have the meth addicts over for Sunday dinner with you and family (hide the family treasures!)? Have you ever seen a house after it's been tested for meth contamination?
Yeah, those of us who feel illegal drug use and drug trafficking are wrong, are not "hysterical" nor have we been "brainwashed."
If Mr. Papa had chosen to sell legal goods instead of drugs, he wouldn't have spent any time in the slammer. Cameron Douglas should go to jail for trafficking an illegal and frankly, very deadly substance.
I am curious if the author of this article has ever worked in an ER and seen the devastation that DOA (drugs of abuse) have on otherwise healthy people?
Otherwise healthy adults are dying of accidental overdoses, and, of course, kill either under the influence, or kill to get the means to get that dose.
Otherwise healthy young adults are committing suicide by deliberately overdosing because they find themselves quickly addicted to tokay’s powerful drugs, realize the hopelessness of their futures, and choose death to trying to ignore, every minute of their lives, the overwhelming compulsion these drugs cause.
Making it legal and easy for new addicts to join that club does not seem like a sensible approach to creating a healthier society.
You're right... he should NOT go to jail... he should be locked away with all the drugs he could ever want and a sandwich. It'll all sort itself out...
I don't care if he was selling or just using. Either way, a stint in prison may be his only hope. Robert Downey went thru rehab after rehab, and even a short prison sentence. It was only when he was sent away for over a year that he finally broke the cycle. I'm not saying send the guy to some violent offenders prison. But a 2 year stay in a minimum security prison may be his only hope of getting and STAYING clean. Maybe it won't work, but he's tried rehab at probably some of the best places in the country. That hasn't worked either.
Thanks for your comments. My question to you is HAVE YOU EVER SPENT TIME IN PRISON? Prison serves no purpose other than to destroy the humanity of those that are unfortunate enough to experience the process. I am telling you from a personal view point. A prison stint will not magically cure addiction. In fact, if you were to go to the prison I spent 12 years in you could get any drug you wanted. If you did not have a habit going in , you would likely leave with one because drugs were a way to escape the nightmare of imprisonment. You should read my book 15 To LIfe.
That's kind of a narrow, self-serving viewpoint that misses out on the viewpoint of those of us who cleaned up our act without doing something that warranted arrest and prison. Drug dealers are violent, man -- sending them to prison takes them off the streets and (as silly as this may sound) keeps more innocent people from being killed in the crossfire. I've lived in the american southwest ... I know what I'm talking about.
So you hadn't committed violence when you got tagged as a drug delivery boy. How long do you think that particular situation would have stayed that way? Maybe it saved the innocent people around you (like your family) from violent reprisals.
Meth destroys the humanity of those who use it.
You went in with a drug problem, Mr. Papa. If you or any other offender chooses to leave with one as well, he (or she) has only himself to blame.
I'm sure prisons need to be better managed, and that offering addiction counseling to those incarcerated would be helpful, but the idea that someone who chooses to break the law and is caught should not suffer consequences is a ridiculous one.
You chose that 6x9 cell when you chose to sell drugs. Get over it.
Treatment should be limited for those with an addiction. Once you start transporting pounds of meth all around the country...YOU GO TO PRISON.
Think of all of the lives that have been ruined by this meth!
OH SO CORRECT - THIS GUY IS A DEALER/USER - JAIL FOR HIM
I hear you and I disagree. If you read my last post you would the hype about meth that is created by the media.
We need to invest scarce public resources into educating the public about the use of meth and providing high quality treatment options to fight addiction, not create needless legislation or layer on ineffective bureaucratic busy work. Or put people in prison for many many years.
Think of the many more lives that have been ruined by draconian drug laws! Much much more than those who have fallen to the addiction of meth.
I agree with you that the drug laws need to be revised and focus more on treatment than punishment but I don't think you can just scoff at the seriousness of meth addiction. At least within the gay community it is an ever increasing recreational drug and once these guys start using it they are hooked. They start practicing unsafe sex with multiple partners and spread stds and HIV. Every paycheck they get goes to "ParTying". It's really sickening if you've known someone that has gone down this route.
"Think of the many more lives that have been ruined by draconian drug laws! Much much more than those who have fallen to the addiction of meth."
My guess is that the numbers would be about even. There's nothing "hyped" about what meth does to communities.
In general, I think legalizing soft drugs would be a possibility. But to say that "the man" is down on the poor meth dealers is beyond ridiculous. Hell, even in the 60s the hippies wanted nothing to do with it.
METH IS MORE THAN JUST HYPE. IT IS DESTROYING THE
CALIFORNIA CENTRAL VALLEY NOT TO MENTION THE HUMAN
FACTOR BUT THE ENVIRONMENT AS WELL IN PRODUCING THIS SH . ..
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