"we could easily empty ⅔ of our prisons if ppl were treated medically instead."
Scott while I agree with your sentiment, I don't believe we are enlightened enough in this country to head down that road.
There are numerous factors that lead people to have emotional/mental conditions that they need to dull their feelings with drugs and alcohol. I believe as a society we are not addressing these issues and in fact we are making life more complicated and creating more problems for people. We have a massive gap in the mental health system too and trying to access proper resources as an average Joe is near impossible. We need to look at our belief systems as a society and challenge ourselves to see how we can better structure society to lessen the impact of these problems and pressures in the first place. Alcohol use in this country is ridiculous. I have said it before, growing up people who drank everyday of the week were alcoholics these days it's just people living the dream. I have seen greed and hedonism change people that I never thought would head down that road. I watch in dismay as I see middle class families raise children to believe that possessions, money, and partying are the virtues that they should be aiming for. We have become soulless in many areas of society, as more and more is laid on for people. We as humans need a sense of purpose and without that we live pretty shallow lives.
