COMMENTARY
I was 16 years old the first time I tried crack cocaine. I quickly became a zombie, enslaved by addiction to the drug. Over the next 10 years, my drug use led me to criminal activity and incarceration. The first time I was released from prison, I came out sober—and to celebrate my release, I used again. I landed back in prison, facing another period of forced detox, with no real movement toward lasting change.
My story isn’t uncommon among the millions of men and women in our nation who struggle with addiction.
Prison often interrupts drug use, but incarceration alone is not a solution. In fact, drugs can sometimes be obtained in prison if a person looks for them and has money on their books. Yet jail and prison are also spaces where people can get clean temporarily.
For recovery to last beyond prison walls, lawmakers and correctional leaders must invest in in-prison programs that care for individuals both spiritually and psychologically.
People who experience addiction may enter prison and detox there. But sobriety, though valuable, is not the same as recovery. Too often, men and women fall back into addiction after their prison sentence, when access to drugs becomes easy again.
To achieve lasting change, incarcerated individuals must have access to resources like cognitive behavioral therapy and other rehabilitative tools.
My celebratory return to drugs post-release stemmed from something deeper than addiction. I didn’t think I could change, and at the time, I only knew one way to celebrate. But this choice landed me right back in prison, facing another 4.5 years, still shackled to the cycle of addiction.
Thankfully, the Lord interrupted this cycle. My change was bigger than just getting clean. It was a full transformation of the heart. A fellow prisoner introduced me to Jesus. When I finally grasped His love and forgiveness, I surrendered my life to Him. At the same time, I started participating in cognitive behavioral therapy.
Recovery programs and cognitive behavioral therapy can be useful tools for breaking addiction in a way that prison time alone can’t. The interruption of addiction that occurs when someone is incarcerated is a great start, but cognitive behavioral therapy or other rehabilitative programming is often necessary to break the cycle of addiction for good.
That said, my freedom from addiction wouldn’t have been possible without the Lord. He rescued me from myself. And when I surrendered myself to Him, I finally felt free—even in prison.
God is the true healer. Addiction is a result of experiencing a void that needs to be filled. Many men and women struggling with addiction are running from their problems instead of running toward Christ, the only One who can truly fill the void. Through Christ, those experiencing addiction can find freedom from shame, guilt and regret—emotions that can continue the cycle of addiction if left unaddressed. Freedom in Christ helps men and women not only stay sober but also experience full recovery.
Some Christians believe therapy and other rehabilitation programs are “secular” by definition, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus is the key to freedom, and He can—and often does—use cognitive behavioral therapy and other programs to accomplish His will in a person’s life. One tool does not eliminate the need for the other. It takes both a Gospel-driven heart change and supportive resources to help free a person in a way that prison alone cannot.
Jesus is the reason I’m a changed man. But prisons must include cognitive behavioral therapy and other drug interventions alongside faith-based programs to end addiction in the lives of men and women. Some programs, like the Prison Fellowship Academy, combine cognitive behavioral therapy and faith-based programming.
I believe Jesus has the power to change not only individual lives but our penal system as a whole, and He invites the Church into that holy and redeeming work. We need lawmakers to facilitate programming that promotes the overall well-being of those struggling with addiction by addressing its root causes, and we need correctional leaders to prioritize that important work behind bars.
Josue Ramos serves as a prison ministry manager at Prison Fellowship, overseeing, establishing, implementing, and recruiting volunteers for Prison Fellowship Grow.
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