Prison

by: Lia

It’s interesting that here in America we so willingly lock people away in prison for crimes that they committed instead of spending less money to get them the help they need.

Let’s take someone with a mental disorder for example. Their mental disorder might not be enough to send them to a psychiatric hospital, but it’s enough to make them unable to function properly in society. According to Mental Health America, “An estimated 54 million Americans suffer from some form of mental disorder in a given year.” Yet, with treatment, “many people with mental illness return to a productive and fulfilling life.”

What about drug addicts and dealers? When they are locked in prison for their crime, do they at least get substance abuse counseling? To me, that would be the most logical step. Only 1 out of 10 drug offenders actually get the counseling they need.

Most drug abusers that go into prison end up abusing drugs there as well. When they get out of prison they do what their body has trained them to do, they use again, and then get put back in prison. It’s a vicious cycle.

In the mean time we are spending all this money to keep them in prison, when it would cost less to give them the treatment needed. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, it costs $23,000 each year to keep just one prisoner in prison.

Indigenous People

by: Lia

Native Americans are the only ones who can rightfully call themselves American. This was their land until the “white men” took everything from them. We took their homeland, their pride, their lives, and in return we gave them diseases, reservations, alcohol, and casinos.

Native American substance abuse levels are higher than those of any other group and
the death of Native Americans due to alcohol is three times higher than everyone else.

Their propensity to alcohol, that we introduced them to, along with their lack of pride, we stole from them, has lead to a great amount of physical and sexual abuse.

Native American women experience the highest levels of sexual and domestic abuse of any group in the United States.

According to Amnesty International, "Many experts in the movement believe that Native women are raped more often simply because there is very little done to stop it. Tribal courts and tribal law enforcement agencies have not been provided with the resources necessary to provide sufficient protection from sexual assault."

What are we doing to change this?

In a monologue a Native American woman tells her story of abuse, ending with, “They took our land. They took our ways. They took our men. We want them back.”