Pacific Daily News

During his inauguration speech Monday, Attorney General Leevin Camacho said efforts to fight drugs on Guam have to go beyond incarcerating drug offenders and include strategies for battling the underlying problem of addiction.

"We know that Guam has a drug problem," Camacho said. "Over 200 cases are filed in this building every year, which does not include people committing crimes to support their drug habit. One third, approximately, of our prison population is being held for non-violent drug related offenses. That represents a lot of families torn apart by drugs."

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Decades of using incarceration to fight addiction have yielded little success in the battle against drug abuse. As Camacho noted, the government of Guam spends $26 million a year keeping people locked up, and "it is hard to argue that the system is working when two out of every three prisoners released is likely to re-offend."

When people are physically and psychologically dependent on chemical substances, the threat of prison won't motivate them to stop using drugs.

Addicts have already lost their freedom. They often lose jobs, homes, families and the will to live as well.

"During the campaign I met many people who recognized their loved ones need help," Camacho said. "But not if it meant putting them in jail."

Prison time and a criminal record become obstacles, making the road to recovery more difficult. And, as Camacho noted, the current system doesn't make the community any safer.

"To be clear, there will be strict consequences for drug offenders. Our policies, however, must align with our problems," Camacho said. "We cannot count on incarceration alone to solve our drug problem. In order to build safer communities for all families, we must ask ourselves how we can do a better job to address root causes of drug-related crimes."

Camacho's plan deserves the support of other elected officials and the community. He has called for "partnerships that focus on rehabilitation, treatment and re-entry programs as additional tools for people who have made mistakes, served their time and now want to get their lives back on track."

Programs that focus on recovery, rather than punishment, would benefit families and the community.

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