Incarceration is not rehab

The state attorney general’s office, the Supreme Judicial Court, in fact, our entire criminal justice system should listen to Julie Eldred, the young woman with opioid addiction who was sent to jail for a relapse to opioid use, an exacerbation of her chronic illness (“SJC to review drug-free order,’’ Page A1, Sept. 25). Incarceration is not rehab; it is punishment, and cruel and unusual punishment given her offense.

I agree with the behavioral health specialists that external consequences can help people keep their addiction in remission. That consequence has to be accessible, affordable, evidence-based addiction treatment, not the destructive humiliation of incarceration.

Eldred has more vulnerabilities than most: a presumed or known family history of addiction, a history of adoption, and the need as a teen to use drugs to finally be, as the reporter put it, “comfortable in her own skin.’’ That’s when she needed to start treatment not only for a substance use disorder but for whatever was making her feel so distressed.

I admire her resilience to endure the untherapeutic jail environment and to have the courage to fight for her rights. Now, with medication and counseling, she is doing well. Given how long she has suffered, she will need long-term treatment to heal, if she can get it.

Dr. Henrietta Robin Barnes

Jamaica Plain

The writer is the author of “Hijacked Brains: The Experience and Science of Chronic Addiction.’’

Sting of legal consequences can be the prod you need

The irony of the article “SJC to review drug-free order’’ is that, per the Globe’s own story, the woman in question, Julie Eldred, twice sought treatment after experiencing legal consequences, and experienced healings — after violating her probation in 2013 and then again two years later. Following these episodes, she began to return to a normal, happier life. Sometimes it takes really unpleasant experiences to wake us up to seeking help.

Sharon Reidy

Bedford