Ventura County, CA

Lauren Hilton provided substance abuse treatment for court-ordered clients in the Utah State Prison and in the Salt Lake County jail. She worked at both the individual and group levels with patients at various stages, including those whose participation was mandated by courts.

“As someone who worked with hundreds of clients with substance abuse problems,” Lauren explains, “I have seen firsthand that the drug ‘war’ is not working and that people who have a desire to use drugs will find a way to use them.” She always felt that the war on drugs was a failed policy but initially worried that legalization would lead to a rise in use for young adults. Then in 2011, while researching, she learned that less punishment-focused drug laws have historically led to lower rates of use by adolescents as well as lower rates of addiction and overdose. That was the point when she decided to join LEAP and publicly advocate a legalization model.

While working in the prison and jails, Lauren personally witnessed the harm of locking up people with drug problems and forcing them into treatment. “Many clients were mandated into 12-step programs even if they did not need treatment or were not ready to change,” she recalls. “For those who make their own decision to use a 12-step program, the program is beneficial, but it is offensive and distracting to them to have others who don’t want to be there hijack the meetings.”

Lauren also notes that adolescent drug users who are coerced into drug treatment by the criminal justice system after being caught with marijuana often end up using harder drugs because they pick up the habit from other, more experienced drug users who are also mandated into the programs. “Forcing teens who don’t have drug addictions to hang around with people who do isn’t the right path of ‘treatment’,” she says. “Legalization would shift priorities to where they belong; criminal justice resources should be used to arrest people who are hurting others, and treatment should be for people who will benefit from it.”

Now a stay-at-home mom in Ventura County, CA, Lauren remains licensed as a therapist.