New Jersey Alcohol & Drug Addiction: Judicial Attitudes toward Rehab

While most state governments want to be seen as empathetic toward people with drug abuse or alcohol addiction issues, many just pay lip service to it. Often, those who enter the criminal justice system due to their substance abuse issues are treated like criminals. The states that do try to treat people with substance abuse issues, as opposed to putting them in jail, often underfund the program, focus only on certain types of addictions, threaten failure with too little of a penalty, or encourage success with too little of a reward. New Jersey courts, however, lead the way in substance abuse treatment for addicted criminals. Not only is there a state-funded, state-wide, comprehensive system to keep drug abusers in treatment and out of jail, but New Jersey treats certain low-level driving under the influence cases as traffic incidents rather than criminal violations. … Continue Reading