30 Days

We have been watching a TV Series called "30 Days". It is done by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who did the documentary "Super Size Me". This is the second year of this series on the FX channel. Spurlock asks people to spend 30 days in some unusual situation. For example earlier this year, he asked a laid-off hi-tech worker to spend 30 days in India working in the hi-tech industry there. Last year, he spent 30 days working at minimum wage jobs. He had to find a place to live and support himself completely on his salary. (Yes, I know this sounds like other awful reality TV shows, however this series is very well done.) We enjoyed the first year of the series and we are enjoying this year as well. If you are interested, they have released a DVD of the first year. I assume that you can rent it at most video rental stores.

Anyway, in this week's episode, Spurlock spends 30 days in prison. I found this show especially interesting considering my recent jail visits. It reinforced some of the conclusions that I am starting to come to. One of my observations is that most of the guys that I have met are in jail on drug related charges. Most of them seem like decent people who just don't know how to kick the drug habit. They have always been warm and friendly to me. The inmates are very convincing on how badly they want to kick the habit and turn their life around. Yet most of them have been in and out of jail multiple times. I don't think jail helps them much. Unfortunately, I do not have a better answer, but I am convinced this is not the right answer. Like it or not, the statistics for most rehab centers is pretty dismal. Just a few percent will ever completely kick their drug habit.

Now I recognize that I see inmates who volunteer to come to a religious service. I also suspect that we never get inmates who are convicted of violent crimes. Occasionally, when we are walking into or out of the jail, we will pass someone who looks really scary. Those guys are closely escorted by two big jail guards. We never see those guys in our meetings. I don't have anything to prove this, but I believe that those guys are the exceptions, not the rule in jail.

Spurlock starts out really nervous about spending time in prison. After entering the prison, he finds out that he has been placed on a wing that consists of drug offenders and a few convicted of petty larceny charges. He points out that over 50% of the inmates in jails and prisons across the US are convicted on drug-related charges. Spurlock also talks about inmates who have mental health issues. (I have not observed any mental health issues in the inmates that I have met.) As Spurlock spends time in prison, he develops friendships and respect for some of the inmates. He sees most inmates as pretty decent people. He even talks about wanting to re-connect with them after they are out of prison.

Spurlock comes to the same conclusion that I have. Jails and Prisons are not helping those who are charged with drug-related crimes. He also points out that the success rate for drug rehab centers is 1-2%. While he would like to see a better answer, he still feels these centers are worthwhile and he would like to see more use made of them. Two percent of the drug addicts in the US comes to 50,000. Turning around the lives of 50,000 people is certainly a worthwhile effort. Anyway, the conclusion is that drugs are a huge problem in our society. At this point we do not have any viable answer to that problem. I realize that is not earthshattering news, but it has really hit home with me.