" .....something to be."

[H2O Man]

24. Yep!

I think that "addiction" frequently includes relapse, even under the very best of circumstances. Insurance companies' cuts for in-patient treatment only increases the likelihood and duration of those episodes. That always annoyed me. It isn't like there aren't enough factors involved without them creating a large stumbling block.

One day the medical doctor who treated patients at the county jail asked me what I thought the #1 problem was? I said that over 50% of the inmate population had addiction problems, and left untreated, it was going to result in their returning after about three or four months "outside" .....almost like being out of jail was a vacation from being incarcerated for stupid minor crimes. He agreed, and eventually we got ADAS to provide services one afternoon per week in the jail. But obviously, that is far too little. One person cannot possibly work with, say, 25 or more inmates in an afternoon, even with groups.

I had a long conversation (which ended moments ago) with my daughter in Boston. She's working in a law office, and is becoming increasingly interested in jail/prison reform. Most of her work involves immigration, but there has been more overlap since the covid shutdown. I think we talked a little over two hours. She found it helpful -- I can always get her laughing eventually. But it reminded me of something that Hurricane Carter told me in the early 1970s: "It usually takes more than alcohol to make a man a drunkard."