Why Prison Isn’t the Answer: A Personal Reflection on Addiction and Recovery

Note: I originally published this article here on Medium on December 14, 2022. I decided to update and rewrite it — so this article may look familiar. — Jamie

In 2006 I was forcibly sober, I believe, as a result of a meth addiction. Try being sober. Deep breath. In 2016ish, I got sober, for real, you know? For example, I didn’t belabor on this, but I stayed clean most of that time. Also, not to belabor it, but I stayed clean so my family would shut the fuck up about my using. A couple (no more, a couple) of short little relapses along the way. It took a little while, but eventually, I got my shit together, started caring about sobriety, and I’ve been sober ever since.

If I had been arrested with drugs and sent to a jail or prison, would that have woken me up in the same way? I don’t know.

I guess it’s something I’ll never know.

I don’t know. I will never know and have no interest in finding out.

I have numerous family and friends who have served time-out for a variety of drug misuse arrest replays. And I never once asked them whether they stayed clean and sober once they got out.

Now, let’s back up. I got sober (so people in my family would shut up) and joined the service because I knew going in the service would help with my “forced sobriety,” and that’s, for the most part, how it’s been. I was discharged in 2012, so I attended school to get my bachelor’s…