Addiction to drugs can be a life long struggle, something that many of us don’t understand and will never have to, but when addiction systematically begins to dismantle someone’s life it can have disastrous results and turn an otherwise healthy person into something hardly recognizable. Drugs can affect someone’s appearance, behavior and even land them in trouble with law enforcement. Daniel Cavanaugh of Sarnia is a prime example of what drugs can do to someone’s existence. He is in trouble with the police due to a number of charges that someone not addicted to drugs would most likely never even consider. He has been convicted of several offenses including theft, driving under the influence and has even received harsher penalties due to the fact that he refused to complete his community service issued to him by a judge. It really shows just how desperate drugs can make people, especially younger people who have yet to mature enough to be able to separate themselves from the lifestyle that is causing them so much harm. When your entire life becomes about the next time you can get high, everything else seems to fade away to the background of one’s mind. It’s almost as if addicts turn into some form of robot with one objective: Get enough money and enough drugs just to get that next high, and only worry about the future of your chances of getting high again. Everything else simply does not matter anymore, it’s all about the drugs and getting them at any cost.
“Cavanaugh has been living on his own since age 14 and addiction is the underlying issue, said defence lawyer Matt Stone. Cavanaugh plans to leave the area to live with a family member ready to support his drug abuse treatment, said Stone. The four-month sentence includes the equivalent of 28 days of pre-sentence custody and will be followed by a year’s probation. During probation, Cavanaugh must take substance abuse counseling, and counselling hours can be deducted from the required 40 hours of community service, said Justice Deborah Austin.”
Luckily for people like Cavanaugh, there are world class treatment centers in this country who have specially designed programs to help rehabilitate even the most severe forms of drug abuse. Being so young, Cavanaugh has an excellent chance at recovery from his drug addiction as well as the opportunity to turn his life around and start a new one without the drugs that drove him into such a desperate state that he believed the only way to get by was to steal, cheat and lie his way out of his very serious problems.
It’s a shame that so many people who are addicted to drugs often turn to crime in order to fund their drug habit, but luckily the Canadian court system isn’t locking them up for huge sentences as they realize that if someone can complete rehab and kick the drug habit they can become very productive, healthy members of society which is very beneficial to all.