Fight the addiction, not the addict

One lovely Pittsburgh Saturday, a piece of mail weakened my faith in Pitt. The Student Code… One lovely Pittsburgh Saturday, a piece of mail weakened my faith in Pitt. The Student Code of Conduct arrived harmlessly enough, cylindrically rolled and stuffed into my narrow Towers mailbox. Wanting to know the rules before I broke them, I leafed through this judicial bull.

Its black on off-white print contained – beyond the outline of prohibited fire safety hazards and guidelines for issuing restraining orders – the penalties for what it terms “Offenses Related to Health, Welfare or Safety.” A few words stood out, bright as fish bellies, from the sea of legalese: “narcotics, hallucinogenics [sic], dangerous drugs, controlled substances … or drug paraphernalia.”

After prohibiting the use, distribution and sale of drugs, as well as forbidding students from being present when others violate the code, I came upon a disturbing sentence. “In cases deemed immediately threatening to … health and safety … particularly in the case of illicit drugs more serious sanctions up to and including dismissal will be considered.” Or, simply, Pitt has a policy of expelling drug addicts.

This may seem like a bit of an inductive leap to some. After all, not all habitual users are addicts and not all addicts – those attempting to recover at least – habitually use. Still, the correlation between people who regularly abuse drugs, especially the physically addicting ones such as heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, morphine, codeine or OxyContin, and those who develop addictions proves staggering.

Three of the six drugs I named are illegal in the United States. The others are available both by prescription and on the black market. All interfere with the human brain’s ability to process dopamine, a chemical that gives rise to adrenaline. For patients who live in a great deal of pain, these drugs provide relief. For users, they provide highs that can become physically addictive.

Once a person is an addict, they are one for life, whether or not they actively use. Transforming from a using addict to a nonusing one takes time, effort and adequate medical support.

The first step is detoxing, or allowing the body to rid itself of the drug. As seen in movies such as “Trainspotting” and “The Basketball Diaries,” this process is, at best, horrifically painful and, at worst, fatal. Many rehabilitation centers help addicts through this, monitoring their physical and mental health, while providing drugs such as methadone, a heroin replacement that eases withdrawal.

Instead of pursuing this method, Pitt imposes a series of fines, treatment classes, workshops, seminars and “brochures, video, audio and interactive methods” on users. Repeated offenses receive heavier punishments, the final one being dismissal. Though it is conceded that its aim is education, there is no mention of more extensive treatment than counseling or classes.

Though it discusses drugs more than 20 times in its 42 pages, nowhere in the Code of Conduct does the word “rehabilitation” appear. Instead, drug use is viewed as a crime and drug users are criminals.

According to state and federal law, drug addicts commit a crime each time they drop, shoot up, inhale or ingest. But neither Pitt nor the government should treat them in the same manner as a thief or an embezzler. Though the exact biological mechanics of addiction remain somewhat of a mystery, we now treat addiction as a medical condition with medical solutions.

Pennsylvania followed the example of other states and has a drug court system, which gives nonviolent offenders the option of rehab or prison. But, in order to access this, users must first be arrested. Shouldn’t Pitt offer aid to people in need of help without requiring them to have a criminal record?

Jim Carrol, whose book, “The Basketball Diaries,” inspired the movie, spoke of his own heroin addiction, saying, “these cells are screaming inside of you for something, cells that you’ve created … and [that] only want one thing.” Desperation such as the one he describes should not be met with punishment, but with compassion.

Addiction is a battle, one that can leave the bodies of our friends and families in its wake. It’s time for Pitt to fight the addiction and not the addicts.

Sydney Bergman considers feedback her drug of choice. She can be reached at sbb23@pitt.edu.