Save My Son: A Mother and a Sheriff Unite to Reclaim the Lives of Addicted Offenders

This book gives a unique perspective of the revolving cycle of abuse that many addicts are caught up in. Written by a sheriff and a parent of someone addicted to drugs, an honest look into why jail is simply not an effective means of keeping an addict clean and sober. Even more enlightening...hard facts aboutthe rising numbers of nonviolent offenders in the prison system nationwide who are addicted to drugs. Anyone who has ever experienced the frustration and loss of a loved ones addiction to drugs and the inability of jail time to make a difference...you must read this book.

Are we imprisoning people with a medical condition that is difficult for those afflicted to control? When people with these medical conditions are in government custody, do we fail to properly treat them so they may overcome their difficulties? Have we become so stuck on punishment that we have lost sight of the real goal of assisting people who need help? According to "Save My Son", this is what is happening. We have dramatically populated our prisons with people with drug addictions. Without arguing that people who commit crimes deserved to be imprisoned, we may have gone overboard with incarcerations and ignored that addicts need treament. Incarceration following by release without treatment neither benefits the addicts nor their future victims. "Save My Son" is written jointly by Mike Carona, Sheriff of Orange County, California, who has watched his jails grow with addicted inmates, and by Maralys Wills, the mother of a drug addict who is currently imprisoned. As the book notes, 80% of incarcerated people enter with a drug addiction and, in California, over one fifth of incarcerations as are solely for drug offenses. Yet, upon imprisonment, few prisons offer drug rehabilitation programs. Our hesitancy to invest in prison rehabilitation may create future crimes and higher health costs. Maralys Wills delivers a heart breaking first person account of an upper middle class mother who watches her son Kirk develop from a high school boy who successfully hides his drug use from his family into a full blown, paranoid addict who has trouble managing a job, a place to live, and his health, to finally becoming another criminal statistic. Some say an addict must hit bottom before he realizes he needs to overcome his addiction. We follow Kirk as he is seriously injured, driven to paranoia, unable to hold a job, imprisoned and released-and still has not "hit bottom" to overcome his addiction. If drug addiction changes the brain functions such that the brain demands more drugs, regardless of the consequences, the consequences do nothing to change the addiction. True rehabilitation requires the brain to totally rethink and realize what it properly needs. The book delivers stirring commentary from Sheriff Carona as he writes about his observations of prisons and of his own mother's alcoholism that eventally killed her when he was a boy. The Sheriff recognizes the need to reach out and help people from destroying themselves and others around them. He points out how crime continued rising despite $30 billion spending on new prisons. Addiction is usually not solved from imprisonment; the addiction is too strong. We are incarcerating and then releasing untreated and angrier addicts. "Save My Son" describes studies by criminologist Elliot Currie that show how being imprisoned both reduces and increases recidivism. It decreases recidivism for many violent offenders yet increases recidivism for many addicts. Prison is often where addicts

If you have ever shed tears while waiting for your child, parent or friend to hit bottom to then recover and get off drugs or alcohol, then this book is for you. I could not put this book down. This book has really enlightened me and inspired me to make an effort to save my son no matter how much criticism I get from others. I'm not waiting for the phone call that tells me he is dead!Maralys Wills writes about her son's adventure into alcohol and drug addictions so well that I felt I was there with her every minute. As a mother of a son in a new drug program in Orange County, CA., I could relate! I have also dealt with years of searching for help for my son. This book gave me hope!!! It made me feel okay to do my best to bring my son the water, even if he doesn't drink. She is a woman with a great amount of wisdom and a great writer.Sheriff Mike Carona talks about his views on why the jail and prison system is ineffective in rehabilitating criminals whose crimes originate in drug abuse or mental illness. He bring information to the book that help's you understand why our tax payers money is being wasted because of recidivism. This man is a real leader who's good soul is opened for all to look in.These two people join forces and created a masterpiece that will comfort and inspire change. This is a must-read book for parents and anyone who is seeking answers to the drug addiction epidemic.God bless them both for sharing and informing us with facts and feelings. Wow, what a book! Thank you both!!