LOS ANGELES - Michael Douglas' son is speaking out from behind bars, calling for treatment rather than jail time for non-violent drug offenders.
Cameron Douglas wrote an essay published Tuesday by the Huffington Post that says United States laws impose tougher penalties on addicts than violent criminals. The 34-year-old is serving a 9 1/2-year prison sentence after various drug violations.
Douglas was first convicted in 2010 of selling methamphetamine, and a judge nearly doubled that sentence after he was found guilty of repeatedly breaking prison rules by arranging to get drugs.
Douglas writes that he "seem(s) to be trapped in a vicious cycle of relapse and repeat, as most addicts are." He says a long prison sentence without adequate treatment "does absolutely nothing but temporarily deter them from succumbing to their weakness."
