For any two drug users, the paths they each follow to becoming addicted to drugs can be similar, even if they live in different countries and come from diverse backgrounds. Where those paths might diverge at some point is when one goes into drug rehab, and the other finds themselves in prison following a conviction for drugs offences.
The circumstances that leads each of these two people to the situation they are in now can be influenced by many things. It could be the country or state they live in and the laws and attitudes to drugs that exist there. Another could be that one’s family was supportive, and the other’s was not. It could even be down to luck where one almost gets caught in possession of drugs and seen that as a wake-up call to enter drugs rehab, whereas the other got caught and convicted.
No doubt these two scenarios have played out all around the world, and it brings us to where we compare rehab and prison and how they compare as solutions to drug addiction and drug crime. Is one better than the other, or do both rehab and prison complement each other and make the other more effective? To try to come up with some answers to those questions, here are some basic comparisons between time in rehab, and time in prison.