Some people think that drug addicts should be treated like criminals and sent to jail, while others believe that they should be treated like patients and sent to hospitals. Discuss both views and give your opinions.

Drug addiction is like a terminal illness to the society, in wake of which a significant number of parents are of the opinion that, the effective way to deal with drug addicts is to put them behind the bars like criminals, whereas considerable number of them, including me opine that they should be sent to hospitals or rehabilitation centers, where they can have an another chance to better future. It all starts with a peer pressure or experiments of younger years, once a person is addicted to any kind of substance, he or she falls the victim to the sense of compulsion to indulge more, which leads to the state of helplessness. Sending such vulnerable individuals to jail for a crime that they did not commit, will put them through the treatment equivalent to that of criminals, resulting in disastrous impact on young minds, eventually leaving no room for rectification. There are examples where timely medical interventions have proved fruitful in saving significant number of lives, for an instance a renowned actor seek for medical aid and psychological therapy to overcome alcoholism, as a consequence he was successful in doing so and is a famous artist now. On the contrary, as advocated by certain section of the society, sending such addicts to jail will cut them off from the rest of the world and ensure containment of spread of drug abuse, but being in such harsh environment can have long lasting trauma on them. After such an experience a little hope is left for ramification. In light of above we can conclude, that sending an addict to hospitals for treatment, ensure a hope for a brighter future and potential samaritan to the society.