Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 7, 1 July 2004 — Illness and addiction [ARTICLE]

Illness and addiction

When the disease of addiction and other mental illness are eombined, they are referred to as a dual diagnosis. Although both are recognized as a medical condition, the socially unacceptable behaviors resulting from both are oftentimes criminal. Many times, the mentally ehallenged non-violent addict is eonfused with the criminally minded drug users that plague our society. Considering that we do not have the adequate space needed in our state psychiatric hospital, and that our state does not have the money to provide for "equal to the need" drug treatment, many of our state's mentally ill and otherwise noncriminal addicts end up in prison. Criminally, the homeless mentally ill are often charged with first- or second-degree burglary, carrying a ten- or five-year-term respectively, simply because they picked the wrong plaee to sleep. The mentally ill addict caught with a glass pipe containing the residue of their drug of ehoiee receives five years for the pipe and five more for the residue. Puhlie safety is a valid eoneem. However, it does not legitimize the criminal treatment of the mentally ill. Mental illness and drug addiction are medical conditions. If we consider ourselves a modern humanistic society we should support the building of mental health

and drug treatment facilities separate from our state's prison system. Miehael Spiker lnmate Advocate Waiawa Correctional Facility