Lindsay Lohan

This blog on Join Together points out the interesting fact that Lindsay Lohan has drawn attention to an important national issue and question – Rehab or Jail?

While public and legal sentiment is moving towards the merits of drug addiction treatment instead of jail for offenders who are addicts, Lindsay’s behavior is giving the proponents of jail big points.

Incorrigibly refusing to improve even when offered the opportunity on prime time, we are left with the impression that all her behavior is drug addiction fueled and rehab doesn’t work.

Rehab works but only when the recipient is willing to take responsibility.

She is taking too much of our attention while the real stars of this particular national drama are being neglected – the boys and girls who pulled up their boot straps, went to treatment and worked their programs with resultant sobriety.

“If actress/starlet/addict Lindsay Lohan accomplishes nothing else in this life — and this seems increasingly probable — we’ll at least be able to say that she has sparked a conversation about the relative merits of drug treatment versus incarceration.

As you may know, Lohan used up even the long rope afforded repeat offenders in Hollywood and was sent to jail in July for violating the terms of her probation stemming from a drunk-driving conviction. Lohan’s teary courtroom appearances have elicited some sympathy.

“Drunk driving is deplorable. Blowing off court-ordered responsibilities and showing up to trial with expletives scrawled on your fingernails is not the way to garner respect. And Ms. Lohan is not above the law,” wrote Rebecca Macatee in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. “But eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction and apparent psychological illness should not be laughed at by the American public. Since I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t have succumbed to similar demons had I lived a life like Ms. Lohan’s, I won’t gawk at her condition, and I will root for her to get the help she desperately needs.”

However, Simma Lieberman reflected the disgust of many over the serial “rehab-abuse’ so prevalent in Hollywood in a column at CNN.com.

“Rehab is getting a bad name from this, and I worry that this will rub off on our perceptions of the average alcoholic or drug addict who works hard to stay clean and sober, takes responsibility for his or her actions — and knows that there is still work to do after the first 30 days,” she wrote. “Let’s stop glamorizing these celebrity addicts and adding to their out-of-control drama. Let’s get real about their addictions and the impact on their families. Let’s discuss solutions, and all the options for help. Let’s sensationalize being clean and sober.””

http://www.jointogether.org/blog/posts/2010/drug-policy-the-lindsey.html