Drug Treatment in Prisons Can Yield Ten-Fold Pay Back
NEW YORK, NY Issues in Science and Technology; "Fighting Crime by Treating Substance Abuse"; Fall 1998, Vol. 15, No. 1, p53; (Steven Belenko, Jordan Peugh) Over the last 15 years increased worries about crime and violence has brought added prosecution, law enforcement, and punishment for offenders. While the strict stance may have helped cut the crime rate, Belenko and Peugh of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, assert that the absence of solutions to drug and alcohol abuse and addiction problems limits the approach's potential to enhance public safety and general well being in the long term.
Only one in six of the 80% of inmates for whom alcohol and drug abuse or addiction played a fundamental role in their criminal behavior receive substance abuse treatment while in prison, and still fewer receive comprehensive intensive treatment with aftercare. As a result of the inadequate care, many of the prisoners will return to old habits when released.
Social and financial costs are high; between 1980 and 1996, the costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating prisons and jails in the United States soared to $38 billion from $7 billion. But the problems can be countered with treatment-based substitutes for prison terms, along with prison-based treatment, support services, and aftercare.
Studies have shown that treatment reduces relapse to drug use and a return to criminal activities. In addition, community-based treatment and services provided after parole, further cuts re-assert rates. The authors point to their own research, which indicates that a treatment and educational program costing $6,500 per inmate results in annual economic benefit of $68,800 if the parolee remains drug-free, crime-free, and employed.
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