He Lost Nearly Everything To Addiction. Then An Arrest Changed His Life - NPR

Will wipes away sweat on a hot day while walking down Willow Street in Lynn, Mass., as he looks to distribute safety supplies to drug users on the street.

Will wipes away sweat on a hot day while walking down Willow Street in Lynn, Mass., as he looks to distribute safety supplies to drug users on the street.

"In the early 1970s when this so-called War on Drugs was started, it really functioned much more as a war on the people addicted to drugs," says Dr.

"There was a pivot toward this idea of substance use disorder as a disease rather than merely some kind of a lack of willpower," says Vin Lorenti, director of community corrections for the Massachusetts Probation Service.

Will distributes new sterile syringes to a drug user in front of the My Brother's Table soup kitchen in Lynn, Mass.

Will distributes new sterile syringes to a drug user in front of the My Brother's Table soup kitchen in Lynn, Mass.

Marc Levin with the Council on Criminal Justice says most states have an alternative path for drug users charged with minor offenses.

But while some drug users are offered treatment instead of punishment for petty crimes, Levin says, others are still sent to jail.

Lorenti says the War on Drugs still casts a shadow over programs that direct drug offenders to treatment.

Will came out of community corrections trained for a job that aims to help drug users through that struggle.

Will walks the streets where he used to buy drugs, distributing Narcan and flyers about safe drug use, helping people get into a detox program, taking clients to AA meetings and connecting them with lawyers or medical care if needed.

Will works out of an office at the Lynn Community Health Center north of Boston.

At his office in the Lynn Community Health Center, Will packs a backpack with sterile syringes, Narcan and safety kits to distribute to drug users on the streets to keep them safe from the risks associated with drug use.

At his office in the Lynn Community Health Center, Will packs a backpack with sterile syringes, Narcan and safety kits to distribute to drug users on the streets to keep them safe from the risks associated with drug use.

Will walks down an alleyway in Union Square in Lynn, Mass., searching for drug users

He distributes sterile syringes, Narcan and safety kits to keep them safe from the risks associated with drug use

Will walks down an alleyway in Union Square in Lynn, Mass., searching for drug users

He distributes sterile syringes, Narcan and safety kits to keep them safe from the risks associated with drug use