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Substance Abuse Treatment: An Alternative to Incarceration for Substance Abuse Offenders

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SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT:

AN ALTERNATIVE TO INCARCERATION

FOR

SUBSTANCE ABUSE OFFENDERS


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During the last 25 years, this country has seen a dramatic increase in substance abuse,

which has led to an increase in crime. This has led to the debate on which is the more effective,

cost efficient way of dealing with substance abuse offenders. The issues is whether to build more

prisons despite the cost associated with operation, or to provide an alternative, treatment, with

the hope of the person rehabilitating and recovering to a functioning member of society. This

issue speaks to a population known as substance abuse offenders of which I am a member. This

population can be defined as those persons who commit crime either dealing with drugs and

alcohol (trafficking, distribution and/or sale, purchasing and/or use), and those persons who

commit crimes under the influence or addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Most effort has been put into law enforcement, prosecution, punishment and

incarceration of this population. But although the get tough approach may have contributed toreductions in crime, there are limits to its ability to enhance the publics safety and general well

being in the long run. The reason is it does little to address drug and alcohol abuse and addiction

(Belenko, 1998). In this effort tremendous sums of money and resources has been used in

creating laws with stiffer penalties for substance abuse, building more prisons to house, feed and

clothe basically non violent offenders with the argument being with more prisons come more

jobs and the creation of economic growth.

Between 1980 and 1996 the cost of constructing, maintaining and operating U.S. prisons

rose from $7 billion to $38 billion (Belenko, 1998). Also during the same time, the incarceration

rate in the U.S. quadrupled (Straussner, Isralowitz, Burke, Amodeo, Lopez, Marsiglia, Becerra,

2010). When you take into consideration the costs of arrest, bail, court appearances, court costs,

fines, fees and so on, you can recognize the criminal justice system is a very lucrative business in

most metropolitan and suburban areas, financed by this population in particular. At the end of

2003, federal prisons held a total of 158,426 inmates, the majority (55%) of whom were drug

offenders (Straussner et al. 2010).

The majority of this population is capable of holding down jobs, maintaining families,

paying rent, bills, mortgages and taxes when treated for substance abuse. They are also unaware

of the disease they have because they have never been diagnosed or received treatment. This is


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where the other side of the debate starts, with the premise that treatment of these individuals will

be less costly and in the long run be more productive for the individual and community.

The goal of treatment is to return people to productive functioning in the family,

workplace, and community. According to research that tracks individuals in treatment over

extended periods, most people who get into and remain in treatment stop using drugs, decrease

their criminal activity, and improve their occupational, social, and psychological functioning

(NIDA, 2006). This population is commonly known as people in recovery. They are keeping

their disease in remission by remaining abstinent, seeking support, being accountable, acting

responsibly and contributing to society.

The economic costs of drug and alcohol abuse in the United States are estimated to

exceed $275 billion a year, including lost productivity, medical expenses, crime, and other costs.

About 3 million individuals entered addiction treatment services last year. In 2003, the United

States spent an estimated $21 billion (U.S. dollars) on treatment for alcohol and drug disorders, a

total of 1.3 percent of all health care expenditures. Public payers now account for 77% of all

spending to address drug and alcohol disorders (McCarthy, 2009).

The benefits to treatment, in relation to cost, compared to the cost of incarceration, in

particular the cost per prisoner are substantial. Extensive research shows there are substantial

benefits to treating alcohol and drug disorders. Treatment can lead to reductions in overall health

care costs and utilization of health care services; in one study, for example, a health maintenance

organization reported a 30% reduction in medical care costs among Medicaid patients who had

been treated for substance abuse. The greatest economic gains seem to arise from reductions in

the costs of criminality (victimization, losses due to crime, and costs of incarceration). Economic

analyses suggest that policies that link criminal offenders with substance abuse treatment

programsin and out of prisonreduce recidivism as well as costs associated with arrest,prosecution, and imprisonment.

Currently, social workers contribute greatly to the field of addictions. The profession's

unique biopsychosocial perspective, its flexibility in adapting to new streams of thought and

incorporating them into practice, and its ability to integrate disparate programming into a


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systemic whole make it a profession extremely well suited to the ever changing field of

addictions. Thus, social workers are important players in program development, organizing

community collaborations, administration, and treatment of substance abusers and their families,

and are increasingly involved in addictions research, education, and policy development

(Straussner et al. 2010). The current national model for treatment in lieu of incarceration is

Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities, a basic diversion program that has proven

successful in several cities and is the current model used by both the Cleveland Municipal Court

and the Cuyahoga County Probation Department.

As a student of social work and a chemical dependency counselor I believe social

workers are critical to the process of advocating for treatment. An argument can be made for

those billions of dollars saved could be better spent addressing other social issues such as

community reentry and funding more programs to assist offenders return to functioning. I have

witnessed, and I am a product of the positive benefits, a reason to continue to push for treatment

over incarceration, to keep this population productive in society, while improving the overall

safety in the community and social environment.

References

Belenko, S. (1998). Fighting crime by treating substance abuse.Issues in Science &Technology,

15(1), 53-60.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2006). Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal

Justice Populations - A Research-Based Guide Retrieved, October 30, 2010, from

http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/PODAT_CJ/McCarty, D. (2009). Substance Abuse Treatment Benefits and Costs Knowledge Asset, Web site

created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations Substance Abuse Policy Research

Program.http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_detail.cfm?KAID=1

Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner, Richard Isralowitz, Anna Celeste Burke, Maryann

Amodeo, Luz Lopez, Flavio F. Marsiglia, David Becerra "Alcohol and Drug Problems"

Encyclopedia of Social Work. Terry Mizrahi and Larry E. Davis. Copyright 2008 by

National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press, Inc. Encyclopedia
http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/PODAT_CJ/http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/PODAT_CJ/http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_detail.cfm?KAID=1http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_detail.cfm?KAID=1http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_detail.cfm?KAID=1http://saprp.org/knowledgeassets/knowledge_detail.cfm?KAID=1http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/PODAT_CJ/


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of Social Work: (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. 1 November 2010

http://www.oxford-naswsocialwork.com/entry?entry=t203.e17-s4
http://www.oxford-naswsocialwork.com/entry?entry=t203.e17-s4http://www.oxford-naswsocialwork.com/entry?entry=t203.e17-s4http://www.oxford-naswsocialwork.com/entry?entry=t203.e17-s4

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