Behind Bars: Here’s How Addiction Can Land You in Jail

Behind Bars: Here’s How Addiction Can Land You in Jail

The destructive nature of addiction is no secret. If you or someone you love is an addict, you know all too well the emotional, physical, and financial pain it causes. And, unfortunately, the problems don’t always end there.

Aside from causing a huge amount of pain, addiction can also strip you of your most precious asset: your freedom. No one knows this better than me; my addiction landed me in the state penitentiary.

A former practicing attorney, I got behind the wheel when I was drunk, crashed my car, and injured two innocent people on my way home. To be honest with you, most of us with substance abuse problems are well-meaning citizens; if it weren’t for addiction, we never would have found ourselves in jail. But that’s the nature of this beast. It creates a desperation that causes us to do and say things that we’d otherwise never consider. With this constant need to feed the beast, it’s a lot easier to wind up in jail from addiction than you might think. And that helps to explain why 70% of all state inmates are addicts.

So, how exactly does addiction lead to incarceration? Glad you asked…

Your Judgment is Completely Compromised

No matter what your drug of choice is, one rule remains the same: when you’re under the influence, your judgment is compromised. In the beginning, a lack of judgment leads to minor issues with minor consequences. For me, this would usually be saying something regretful or acting in an embarrassing way at a party after a few drinks. My words cut like a knife and my actions made me want to crawl under a rock the next day…but I kept on drinking.

A compromised sense of judgment can lead to significant, longer-lasting consequences, as well. Beyond saying or doing something I regretted, drinking and using drugs screws with your brain in so many negative ways. Getting high prevents us from thinking rationally. It shuts down our intuition and makes us more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors, which makes us much more apt to do the kinds of things that lead to incarceration. Beginning to see a pattern here?

Things like drinking and driving, getting into a domestic squabble and beating the crap out of your significant other, or over-staying your welcome on someone’s couch might seem like good ideas at the time, but trust me, they’re all ways that can put you behind bars.

Illegal Drugs, Illegal Use

A lot of the addicts I met in prison were hooked on illegal drugs (think heroin or cocaine). That means every time they use on the streets, they put themselves at risk of being arrested. Even using drugs that you used to have a prescription for, but don’t anymore – such as OxyContin or Xanax – can get you locked up because it’s considered illegal possession.

Illegal drugs can also cause you to do some pretty reckless nonsense. The more and more you use, the worse your judgment becomes – leading you to take bigger and much more dangerous risks. This might be using drugs out in the open, buying them from someone you don’t know (maybe even an undercover cop), or even traveling with them. And all of these things greatly increase the chances of getting arrested.

Desperate Times…

When casual drinking and drug use grow into full-blown addiction, your mind and body are absolutely, positively dependent on the substance. And that means you’re increasingly desperate to avoid withdrawal. With your mind constantly racing, completely consumed with finding that next fix, it becomes a race to feed your addiction. That kind of reckless abandon usually prompts addicts to take part in other illegal activities – like stealing, forging prescriptions or doctor shopping.

Think about it: Drugs cost money, so the more we use, the more money we need to support that dependence and avoid painful withdrawals. Since it’s extremely difficult to hold down a high-paying job while addicted, we often resort to stealing from friends and family, burglarizing random people’s homes, or even prostituting. In fact, trading sex for drug money (or the actual drugs) is sadly common. Way too many of the women I met in prison were serving sentences because they got themselves in these exact situations – they were left with STDs, multiple unwanted pregnancies, and self-esteem issues the size of Mt. Rushmore.

If these seem like “extreme” cases to you, keep in mind that, most of the time, these are the desperate acts of people who wouldn’t be doing these things if drugs weren’t in the picture. Most of the people I met behind bars weren’t bad people, and they wouldn’t have been in there if it weren’t for the progressive desperation addiction caused.

Here’s the thing I’d like to leave you with: If you can relate to any of what I’ve mentioned above, you likely have a problem and it’s time to get help. Trust me, no drug in the world is worth wasting precious years of your life stuck inside a 6 x 8 cell.