DEAR UPCOMING PRESIDENT,

  Do you think drug addicts deserve to go to jail or to rehab?

  I think that drug addicts should be put in rehab instead of jail. Some people may disagree because drugs are illegal, but think about it, isn't that what rehab is for? Too many drug addicts are in prison for possession or other offenses. What people never think about is the space that is taken up by the addicts when they could use the cells for murderers and rapists. This causes the two to be mixed, making it more likely that a drug addict could turn into a murderer or rapist. They could also get more places for buying drugs.

  Mothers also may  become drug addicts. As sad as it is, according to Google, over 80 million women are in jail for crimes related to illicit drugs. in the U.S. Some mothers even give birth to these kids in jail. This leaves the kid without a mother for years, all caused by them going to jail instead of rehab. I was one of those kids. My mother spent 7, almost 8, years in jail for drug addiction.

  I believe mothers nor fathers should go to jail. I believe we shouldn't make them go to prison over an addiction. I believe that maybe the government is wrong by even making them go when rehabs are available. For the people who think otherwise what are their reasons?  The first reason would be because the addicts are unhealthy to the community. Shouldn't they just get put in rehab then?  Or maybe because they broke the law. Think about it, haven't we all? They just might think that it will teach everybody else not to do drugs. Yet that hasn't worked. If you looked up how many people in America are addicted to drugs, you would see approximately 23.5 million are addicts and only 11 percent receive treatment. (https://www.orlandorecovery.com/rapid-detox/claims-outcomes)

 For future healthiness, build more rehabs and stop sending addicts to jail; we're just losing good people to addictions. Stop being scared of what could happen and make what should happen, happen.