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North Carolina Police Chief Implores Officers To Stop Arresting Addicts

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

In a sharp turn away from the War on Drugs, the chief of police in Nashville, North Carolina announced in February that drug addicts in the small town would be taken to rehabilitation centers instead of jail. Now, in response to a growing opioid crisis, the chief is calling on other law enforcement officers across the state to do the same.

Three months ago, following an “alarming” spate of prescription drug overdoses in Nash County, Thomas Bashore of the Nashville Police Department unveiled the HOPE Initiative to help addicts find treatment and divert them away from the criminal justice system. In lieu of arresting and imprisoning addicts, the initiative encourages them to go the department voluntarily and meet with a community volunteer who can connect them to counseling and treatment facilities. Addicts who have drugs or paraphernalia when they enter the department aren’t penalized.

During the Law Enforcement and Community Summit on Heroin last Thursday, Bashore appealed to officers to implement similar rehabilitative policies in departments throughout the state, in order to combat the ballooning opioid epidemic.

The number of heroin-related deaths in North Carolina has skyrocketted, jumping 565 percent between 2010 and 2014. And according to Bashore, the shame attached to drug use has deterred addicts from seeking assistance, and criminalizing them doesn’t prevent future opioid abuse.

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“We have to eliminate the stigma,” he implored conference attendees, “and look at it the same way we view diabetes or cancer, and the need for treatment.”

The vast majority of offenders behind bars have a drug or alcohol problem, but very few get the treatment they need while incarcerated. Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) concluded that 11 percent of incarcerated substance abusers receive treatment. And 76.9 percent of drug offenders are rearrested after their release from prison, according to a 2005 study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

By reforming substance abuse policies, law enforcement can usher in a culture shift that helps individuals in need of medical attention while improving public safety.

So far, 17 people in Nashville have taken advantage of the HOPE Initiative since its launch in February, and 11 are currently participating in treatment programs. Four people are awaiting treatment, and two addicts have resumed their drug use.

Emphasizing rehabilitation as opposed to incarceration is a drastic shift away from the War on Drugs that began with President Richard Nixon and led to the government-supported, decades-long crackdown on all forms of drug use. That shift has led to a reduction of draconian mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders — particularly crack cocaine users — and the legalization of marijuana in four states and the nation’s capital.

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Bashore’s efforts to assist opioid users are part of a national push to decriminalize heroin use specifically. In 2014, former Attorney General Eric Holder called on officers across the country to carry and administer naloxone, a groundbreaking drug that can reverse heroin overdoses, and to rethink arrest policies. Last year, President Obama said that heroin use should be treated as a public health problem and launched a program that pairs law enforcement with health care providers to treat drug users rather than incarcerate them.