Years ago, I met a drug addict who said he had been in prison for 17 years for trafficking drugs, even those he used himself.

Apparently, while in prison he obtained some heroin but was caught. After he left prison he wanted to stay clean but the law would not let him.

He found himself in the law courts again and this time was charged with possession of heroin. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

But did not this man already pay for his mistakes? Weren’t 17 years enough for him to pay for any grievous mistakes?

I cannot understand why someone who has come out of prison has to go back behind bars for other crimes he might have committed before the one that took him there in the first place.