s in law enforcement, social services, health care and incarceration. However, the drug user and his or her family and friends also pay an enormous cost due to the physiological, psychological, social, and economic costs associated with drug addiction. Because of current policies that favor the views of the right, drug addicts are perceived in a negative manner and typically stigmatized for life in both work and social settings. This stigmatization typically occurs when the drug addict is going through rehabilitation and detoxification, including a host of psychological and physiological changes. By abandoning such individuals or condemning them to a life of discrimination through right-based drug policies, America is throwing away an entire generation of individuals. Ironically, the Hughes Act stemmed from a bill introduced by two legislators with their own personal recovery stories, Senator Harold Hughes and Representative Tom Pike, both recovered alcoholics. Rehabilitation does work, and society benefits more from this kind of drug policy than it does from a harsh approach that discounts the potentially lost contribution from recovered addicts. For this reason I argue that the time has come to form a powerful movement to mobilize advocacy for a new public view of addiction and social and health responses to this tragic but treatable illness.
When undergoing the process of rehabilitation, the drug addict often faces a rough and difficult process of recovery and growth. Psychologically and physiologically, many recovering addicts must cope with a variety of changes. Further, the rehabilitation and detoxification process have a significant impact on the family and friends of recovering addicts. In addition to these challenges, drug addicts and their families and friends are often subjected to discrimination socially, occupationally, and personally. As Johnny Allem (et al. 2003) maintains, “The afflicted, who suffer from ...