SF Young Adult Court in the News!

Two recent articles highlighted the importance and impact of the San Francisco Young Adult Court.

The New York Times
"A California Court for Young Adults Calls on Science"

By Tim Requart
April 17, 2017


Photo: Laura Morton / The New York Times

"Surprisingly, this alternative legal philosophy springs not from concerns about overcrowded prisons or overburdened courts, but from neuroscience.

"Researchers have long known that the adolescent brain is continually rewiring itself, making new connections and pruning unnecessary neurons as it matures. Only recently has it become clear that the process stretches well into early adulthood.

"Buried in that research is an uncomfortable legal question: If their brains have not fully matured, how responsible are adults ages 18 to 24 for their crimes?

"Should they be treated more like adolescents, handled in the comparatively lenient juvenile system, or more like hardened 35-year-olds? Should young adults be held fully responsible for certain crimes but not others?"


The San Francisco Chronicle

"Programs in sanctuary cities threatened by federal funding cut"
By Emily Green
March 30, 2017

"In San Francisco, an innovative court program that helps young adults facing criminal charges or who have already been convicted pull their lives together began in 2015 with the help of a Justice Department grant. A team of city employees helps the defendants find jobs, housing and enroll in school. If a defendant meets the goals — about a third graduate — they earn a reduced criminal record or even no record at all."

NYTimes: Methadone, buprenorphine underprovided to treat opioid dependence

This month, The New York Times' Upshot series provided analysis on the potential cost savings associated with treating opiate dependent patients with maintenance therapies, such as methadone or buprenorphine. A graph in the article, "Dealing With Opioid Abuse Would Pay For Itself", shows that treating 50% of patients for opiate dependence with these medications would yield $2.7 billion in savings to society, a calculation that "includes both the cost of treatment and costs imposed on society (e.g. lost productivity, crime) by untreated addiction."

Why is maintenance treatment for opioid dependence underprovided despite the cost savings to society?

"One answer is that, though treatment works, its benefits are diffuse. A great deal of the cost of treatment would be borne by insurers and public health programs. But a great deal of the savings would be captured by society at large (through a reduction in crime, for example)."

Another reason is that maintenance therapy "is still misunderstood. Culturally, there’s a temptation to view dependency as a result of poor lifestyle choices, not as a chronic disease, and to view maintenance treatment as merely substituting one addiction for another."

In conclusion:

"It’s clear that treatment for opioid dependency is underprovided for a variety of reasons, and that this, in turn, helps promote the growth in the problems dependency causes. But it’s also clear that those dependent on opioids aren’t the only victims. Because of the social costs the problem causes, many others are as well."

Click here to view the full article.

New York Times essays tackle the issue of addiction and treatment

On February 10, 2014, The New York Times' Room for Debate series tackled the important and complex issue of addiction and treatment. These essays provide a well-rounded look at the causes of addiction, and more importantly, what can be done to break the cycle. As Boston College's Gene Heyman wrote, "What research shows is that those we label addicts have the capacity to take control of their lives. It is time to reformulate drug policy and addiction interventions on the basis of this well-established finding."


It Is a Disease and Needs to Be Treated as Such
David Sack, Psychiatrist
"Research has shown that it has the properties of other medical disorders, including genetic links and a susceptibility to medication."


As With Other Problems, Class Has a Role
Carl L. Hart, Columbia University
"Crack became popular in poor areas because there were few 'competing reinforcers,' other affordable sources of pleasure and purpose."


A Spiritual Understanding Is Needed
Lisa Miller, Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Columbia University
"A personal relationship with a higher power is the most powerful protection against the "mystic consciousness'' of substance abuse."


A Matter of Difficult Choices
Gene Heyman, Boston College
"Most addicts keep using until penalties of excessive use become overwhelming. Research shows that addicts can take control of their lives."

 

Bad Habits Can Be Learned and Unlearned
Marc Lewis, Author, "Memoirs of an Addicted Brain"
"Addiction involves the pursuit of attractive goals. It is hardly abnormal. It involves brain changes because that's how learning works."


No Quick Fix or Simple Approach Will Do
Peg O'Connor, Gustavus Adolphus College
"Doctors tell pre-diabetic patients to make healthy choices, but those can be beyond the control of many people."