Drug Courts: Societal Adaptation or Demonic Parody of an Authentic Myth?

ISSN： 1606-6359

Source： Addiction Research and Theory, Vol.11, Iss.4, 2003-01, pp. : 257-262

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Abstract

This article examines the mythopoetic origins of the belief that drug courts work despite a lack of empirical evidence supporting effectiveness or a clear conceptual framework supporting the notion that they are a good idea. The analysis hinges on mankind's focus on primary human concerns and their expression through mythos or stories. Although expression of these concerns has evolved from highly imaginative oral narrative to abstract conceptual argument and concrete descriptive science, the latter never replace mythology. Bizarre hybrids often result; ideology and rhetoric become default positions bolstered by belief stemming from roots burrowed deep in the mythology matrix. Authentic myths are inevitably adapted into forms consistent with societal norms and expectations, i.e., societal adaptation, but may become severely distorted into demonic parodies, gross misrepresentations of the truth. Drug courts fall into the latter category. Suggestions are made to elevate them to a level closer to the authentic freedom myth.