Prison or Rehabilitation? States debate non-violent drug criminals
2:50 p.m. Monday, April 14, 2008
Three quarters of drug offenders in state prisons nationwide are there for non-violent offenses.
Jailing them all is costing states billions of dollars. Mississippi is now considering offering many early parole. Vermont, New Jersey and South Carolina are looking at funneling more into treatment instead of prison.
Maryland began increasingly opting for treatment over jail eight years ago. From 2000 to 2005, drug treatment admissions went up 28 percent, while incarceration for drug offenses fell by 7 percent.
"For people who you know are committing crimes directly related to their addiction - who, once that addiction is taken care of, can really rejoin society - it is so much better for society to be investing in treatment for those individuals," Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said.
Vernon Nelson entered Baltimore's substance abuse system after his second trip to jail.
"I'm laying on that hard floor and said, this ain't how I want to live my life," Nelson said.
Counselors kept the pressure on.
"They stayed on me. They said, 'this time around, you're gonna be a different person. You ain't gonna come back. You ain't gonna come back to jail ever in your life,'" Nelson said.
Now Nelson helps others at the treatment center, like Donald Levi. Levi gets acupuncture to help control his drug cravings.
"I would die if I wouldn't have came here," Levi said. "I would be in prison for the rest of my life."
A group advocating reduced incarceration says Maryland jurisdictions that rely more on drug treatment programs have seen crime drop by more than 10 percent.
Some psychiatrists point out the treatment isn't foolproof. "They get better again. And, sometimes that better lasts 50 years. Sometimes it lasts 50 minutes," Columbia University Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Mark Mills said.
Recidivism is why one Maryland lawmaker instead advocates drug prisons.
"This is a prison totally dedicated to drug rehabilitation, because we have them in a captive audience. They have to do the drug rehab and they have no chance of getting out if they don't do that," Baltimore City Delegate Patrick McDonough said.
Maryland currently spends 26 cents on treatment for every dollar it spends on incarceration.
Comments
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May. 6, 2008 at 1:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)sam5684 (anonymous)
Drug addiction cases in females of age 24-38 have been increased tremendously. These women are mostly working women. They are indulged in this activity due to the atmosphere in which they work. Thus many specialized drug/alcohol rehabilitation centers have been established which provides treatment only to women.
http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/
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