Criminalized for Being an Addict: How Families and the System Both Get Addiction Wrong - and How to Get It Right

By Shanta Jerry

Your loved one isn't a criminal. They're sick - and the way we treat addiction is making it worse. Every day, people caught in the grip of addiction are handcuffed instead of helped, shamed instead of supported, and pushed further from recovery by the very systems meant to save them. And too often, the families who love them most - exhausted, frightened, out of answers - end up getting it wrong too, without ever meaning to. Written by a counselor who has sat with people on the hardest days of their lives, this book pulls back the curtain on how addiction is criminalized in America and what that costs the people we love. But it doesn't stop at what's broken. It shows you a better way forward. Inside, you'll discover: Why punishment fuels addiction instead of ending it - and what actually works How well-meaning families accidentally deepen the problem, and how to change course What real support looks like when you stop trying to control and start trying to connect How to protect your own heart while standing beside someone who's still struggling The difference between enabling and loving - and why the line isn't where most people think If someone you love is battling addiction, you don't have to choose between rescuing them and giving up on them. There's a third path - one rooted in dignity, truth, and hope. It's time to stop criminalizing pain and start healing it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HBVJ31VN
• ISBN13: 9798189351907
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"