BRATTLEBORO — I have a few simplified statements.
• There are no bad people; I believe all people are good, but it's the behavior of addicts that becomes the “bad,” and in order to bring more people into treatment, I think it's wise to note the difference more often.
They are all good people with a very bad addiction that does drive many of them into criminal acts to support their habits.
• Drug treatment, when it lasts only for 30 days, is not an answer but only a beginning that rarely ends the addiction.
• Addiction is not just an illness, it's a lifestyle. Treatment needs to last much, much longer, and it needs to have components of job training and/or continuing education for many.
We cannot expect people who have developed addictions to go through a 30-day (or even a 60-day) program and come out the other side as a non-user. I would hope to someday see rehab that lasts 18 months or more.
It's a lifelong struggle for many in the same way that diabetes or heart disease is a lifelong struggle. Each of these disorders require an appropriate change in lifestyle if one wants to succeed, and it's even more acute for addictions.
• I also hope to see where the Vermont Crime Information Center will only release the past five to seven years of history rather than the lifetime it automatically releases now.
The reason for that is our addicts, if we honestly want to help them, need forgiveness. They already feel overwhelming guilt, and forgiveness needs to be part of any recovery.