We need to use arrests, but not as a reason to send someone to prison. Instead, criminal charges are leverage we can use to pry users from the dope that will consume them otherwise. Our era of synthetic street drugs requires this. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink—however, you can make him thirsty,” said Brandon Cox, a recovering addict in Lancaster, Ohio, who is now a paramedic. “You’re not going to get better unless you’re willing to get better. Finding that emerging willingness is critical. For me, it was the threat of doing years in prison.”
