There was a time in our country's history when smoking was cool, that is not the case anymore. With ever-increasing medical awareness, the average American is medically and legally informed about drug use. Despite this, drug abuse continues to rise and the United States is struggling to find a solution. Our country has long believed that tougher drug laws and harsher penalties curb drug use, but it simply doesn't work. Despite the war on drugs, drug use continues to rise. It's time for the United States to modernize and look at the drug crisis from a new perspective. By establishing government-run rehabilitation centers, rather than prisons, for people arrested on drug charges, drug use will decrease. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Before finding a solution to the problem, a deeper look is needed to fully understand why this problem is so prevalent in America. Addiction today is seen by many as a character flaw in a person, when instead it represents the happiness and fulfillment of that person's life. “Rat Park” by Bruce Alexander is an experiment in which the well-known “Rat Addiction” test is tested. In the normal experiment, a rat is placed in a cage with two types of water, one with cocaine mixed in and one without. Almost every time, the rat chose the cocaine water over the regular water and ended up overdosing. Bruce recreated this experiment, but instead of keeping the rat in a prison-like cell, he transformed the cell into a sort of "rat paradise." This cage had endless companions, food, and activities. The cage also contained cocaine and normal water, but surprisingly the rats almost never chose the cocaine water and never overdosed. Bruce says: “In virtually every experiment, rats in solitary confinement consumed more of the drug solution, not just a little more. Much more.” This quote shows how isolation is not an effective form of addiction treatment, but a good environment and support is. This shows how ineffective prisons are in treating drug abuse, because after release, drug addiction does not stop. In fact, it shows the opposite: an isolated person is more likely to become addicted. A quote from the Federal Bureau of Prison Statistics supports this hypothesis: “It is estimated that 68% of released prisoners were arrested within 3 years, 79% within 6 years, and 83% within 9 years. » With such high prison reentry rates for drug offenders, it is clear that the prison sentences currently in place in the United States are not effective in reducing and preventing drug use. This shows that drug addiction cannot be solved with prison sentences and that a new approach is needed. To ensure that rehabilitation centers are effective and achieve their purpose, they will need to be managed and maintained properly. A fundamental principle of these centers to ensure success, each person will have their own specialist worker who will examine patients individually and have access to the measures to be taken based on that client. Alltyr, a similar new clinic based in Los Angeles with an individual approach to addiction, reported that "40 to 50 percent of clients make a full recovery" after 90 days of..