The continuing struggle with illegal drug use in the United States is not only a legal problem. It is also a moral and spiritual problem. Even with recent declines in overdose deaths, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics estimated that 69,973 people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2025.[1] And behind many minor drug offenses are people trapped in addiction, fractured families, untreated pain, and communities that are struggling under the weight and cycle of brokenness. Because of this, I believe that Christians should pursue a response that is just, merciful, accountable, and restorative. Jail may be necessary for violent offenders, traffickers, and those who pose an immediate danger to others, but it should not be the primary response for minor drug possession or nonviolent drug-related offenses. A much more effective Christian response would be a court-supervised jail-diversion model that combines treatment, accountability, restitution, community service, mentoring, and long-term recovery support for the road ahead.

Christian ethicists Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan make an important distinction between sin and crime when they say, “Sin is ultimately Godward, but crime is determined by human authority and usually involves injury to others or danger to the community.”[2] This is an important distinction we must consider when discussing drug use. Abusing drugs is both morally and spiritually destructive, and it can certainly harm families, workplaces, communities, and the user’s own life. However, not every minor drug offense should be treated the same way as violent crimes are. A biblical view of justice should recognize both personal responsibility and the need for wise, proportionate consequences.

McQuilkin and Copan identify four valid purposes of punishment: “rehabilitation, justice, protection of the innocent, and deterrence.”[3] This is especially important for minor drug offenses because addiction often involves both moral responsibility and bondage. While a person struggling with addiction is responsible for his or her choices, simply placing that person in jail may not address the underlying addiction, brokenness, trauma, or destructive environment that helped shape those choices. Jail may punish what someone did, but it often fails to deal with why they did it. In that sense, I believe incarceration may address the symptom without healing the deeper wound. As Jeremiah reminds us, a wound cannot be healed by pretending it is not there or by declaring peace where there is no peace (Jer. 6:14).

A much better model would be expanded drug courts and recovery-based diversion programs for nonviolent offenders. The National Institute of Justice describes adult drug courts as “Programs that combine drug treatment with the authority of the court through treatment, drug testing, judicial monitoring, and graduated sanctions and rewards.”[4] This model does not remove accountability. Instead, it redirects accountability toward treatment and restoration. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also notes that, “Treatment does not have to be voluntary in order to be effective.”[5] This too is important because court-supervised treatment can use legal pressure in a constructive way without defaulting to incarceration.

With my work in recovery, I have seen how important this point is. People do not only need punishment; they need a pathway back into healthy community. Johann Hari expresses this memorably in his TED Talk when he says, “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.”[6] From a Christian recovery perspective, sobriety is essential, but sobriety is only sustained through restored connection with God, family, the church, mentors/coaches, and a community that speaks the truth in love. A court-supervised recovery model can truly become more than a legal alternative. It can become a doorway into treatment, discipleship, accountability, and lasting support.

Michelle Alexander, a legal scholar and civil rights advocate, is not simply addressing individual drug use or criminal behavior in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She is raising concerns about whether the system itself made mass arrest and incarceration easier, especially for nonviolent offenses.[7] Her broader argument about mass incarceration is debated, and Dr. Smith’s reference to her work should not be taken to mean that he fully accepts her conclusions. However, her concern still raises an important question that Christians should be willing to consider: is the current system really producing justice, restoration, and public safety, or is it just multiplying long-term consequences for people who desperately need intervention, treatment, accountability, and discipleship? Christians should also be willing to examine whether parts of the prison system can become exploitative when people are warehoused, overcrowded, or treated more like sources of revenue than image-bearers of God.

This concern becomes even more serious when one considers the historical relationship between slavery, incarceration, and profit. While the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, it also included the exception, “Except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”[8] This does not mean that every prison sentence is a modern form of slavery, nor does it mean that dangerous offenders should not be incarcerated. However, it does mean Christians should be willing to examine whether parts of the current prison system can become a modern form of exploitation, especially when incarceration is tied to overcrowding, profit, or labor that treats people more like resources than human beings. This concern is heightened by the existence of private prisons. The Sentencing Project reports, “Private for-profit prisons incarcerated 90,873 people in the United States in 2022, representing 8 percent of the total state and federal prison population.”[9] If justice becomes profitable, then society must ask whether punishment is still aimed at rehabilitation, protection, restitution, and deterrence, or whether it has quietly become an industry. McQuilkin and Copan’s concern about prison overcrowding and alternative punishment is also important because they argue that “the prison system has utterly failed in three of the four purposes of punishment” and call for “the development of alternative systems of punishment.”[10] This reminds Christians that justice must never lose sight of mercy, human dignity, and restoration.

This approach also fits McQuilkin and Copan’s discussion of restitution and alternatives to imprisonment. They argue that “warehousing prisoners is inadequate and that restitution affirms both moral responsibility and human dignity.”[11] They also suggest that many nonviolent offenders could be punished through fines, restitution, community service, or other alternative forms of accountability rather than imprisonment.[12] Applied to minor drug offenses, this means offenders should be held responsible, but responsibility should be directed toward recovery, restitution, and reintegration whenever possible.

For the church, this issue is not just political. McQuilkin and Copan also argue that Christians cannot simply shout “law and order” or “lock them up and throw away the key.” Instead, they advocate that “Believers should work toward a more just criminal justice system, listen carefully to prisoners and prison staff, scrutinize the system, and advocate improved laws where necessary.”[13] This fits the ministry of Jesus, Who came not to excuse sin but to redeem sinners. Christians should support justice that protects the innocent, holds offenders accountable, and creates pathways for transformation.

Therefore, I would argue that minor drug offenses should generally be handled through treatment-based diversion programs rather than jail terms. This approach better serves the offender, the family, the community, and society. It affirms moral responsibility without abandoning mercy. It protects the community while also seeking restoration. Most importantly, it gives the church room to do what only the church can do: proclaim the hope of restoration, walk with people through the journey of recovery, and help restore them to God, family, and community.

Bibliography

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Revised ed. New York: The New Press, 2012.

Gotsch, Kara, and Vinay Basti. “Private Prisons in the United States.” The Sentencing Project. August 23, 2022. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/private-prisons-in-the-united-states/.

Hari, Johann. “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong.” TED video, 14:32. Filmed June 2015 at TEDGlobalLondon. Posted July 2015. https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong.

McQuilkin, Robertson, and Paul Copan. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom. 3rd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014.

National Center for Health Statistics. “U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease for Third Consecutive Year in 2025.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May 13, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/releases/20260513.html.

National Institute of Justice. “Practice Profile: Adult Drug Courts.” CrimeSolutions. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/ratedpractices/adult-drug-courts.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide. 3rd ed. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018.

United States Constitution. Amendment XIII, section 1. Constitution Annotated. Library of Congress. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-13/section-1/.

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[1] National Center for Health Statistics, “U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease for Third Consecutive Year in 2025,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 13, 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/releases/20260513.html.

[2] Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 429.

[3] McQuilkin and Copan, Biblical Ethics, 432.

[4] National Institute of Justice, “Practice Profile: Adult Drug Courts,” CrimeSolutions, accessed July 22, 2026, https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/ratedpractices/adult-drug-courts.

[5] National Institute on Drug Abuse, Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide, 3rd ed. (Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018), 12.

[6] Johann Hari, “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong,” TED video, 14:32, filmed June 2015 at TEDGlobalLondon, posted July 2015, 14:24, https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong.

[7] Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, rev. ed. (New York: The New Press, 2012), 61.

[8] U.S. Const. amend. XIII, sec. 1, https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-13/section-1/.

[9] Kara Gotsch and Vinay Basti, “Private Prisons in the United States,” The Sentencing Project, August 23, 2022, accessed July 22, 2026, https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/private-prisons-in-the-united-states/.

[10] McQuilkin and Copan, Biblical Ethics, 442.

[11] McQuilkin and Copan, Biblical Ethics, 436.

[12] McQuilkin and Copan, Biblical Ethics, 439.

[13] McQuilkin and Copan, Biblical Ethics, 442.