Substance Abuse In Prison

Everett, Cristina. "Drug Treatment Can Succeed as an Alternative." America 's Prisons. Ed. Roman Espejo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from “Treatment, Not Prison, Best Solution for Drug Offenders." Daily Bruin 19 Oct. 2000. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

Across the United States and throughout the world there is an epidemic of epic proportion involving drug addiction. Here in North Carolina the majority of the Department of Corrections inmate population is known to have substance abuse problems. (Price, 62) Along with this epidemic is the growing problem of prison overcrowding. There is a correlation between the two. Many of today’s correctional facilities house inmates that have committed drug related crimes or crimes that they committed while under the influence. There is a solution that would help society and lessen the overcrowding of the penal system. The solution is to help those that are committing crimes because of an addiction disorder. There is viable evidence that this solution

The War on Drugs is one cause for the mass incarceration that has become apparent within the United States. This refers to a drastic amount of people being imprisoned for mainly non-violent crime (“Mass Incarceration” 2016). In addition to people who are not an immediate threat to society being locked up for a substantial duration of time, the economic consequences are costing states and taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, every one in five people incarcerated is in prison due to some

With California jails and prisons still struggling with finding a reform for non-violent drug offenders the states recidivism rates continue to reach unprecedented numbers. Between 1983 and 1998, drug admissions to state and federal prisons increased sixteen-fold, from over 10,000 drug admissions in 1983 to almost 167,000 new prison entries for drug offenses in 1998 (Worrall et al, 2009). This has been a direct result of our legal system incarcerating offenders who have substance abuse related issues instead of providing a way for treatment or rehabilitation outside of incarceration. Through public policies regarding criminal justice interventions that address drug use and crime, an initiative was created to provide treatment services

Research has identified that prison based substance abuse treatment for offenders differs greatly for males and females. Female offenders tend to have numerous triggers for their substance abuse with the research showing female offenders being significantly disadvantaged compared with male offenders when entering treatment programs (Messina, Grella, Cartier, & Torres, 2010). The following essay will summarise research conducted on the topic of substance abuse treatments for incarcerated females, looking at the research conducted by Messina et al. (2010), and how this research fits in with the available literature, and the contribution it has made to the field of research on the topic.

There is a debate in the American government system on how to handle the use of drug and alcohol. In the 1960s drugs were uprising along with youth rebellion and in 1971 Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” (Citation a brief). This name is not to be confused with the band War on Drugs, but the term is still popularly used to describe the policies that Government officials are making regarding drugs and alcohol. This debate got reheated when Colorado legalized weed for medical and recreational use, followed by several other states. There has slowly been a shift in mindset from, “alcoholics are drug addicts are all criminals and we (the law) should throw them in jail” to “addiction is a disease.” Even the way that addicts/alcoholics are treated has changed to treatment centers with specialist versus throwing them in the hospital to detox and hoping for a change. Policies that are shifting the penalty from incarceration to treatment reflect these changes and help the individual suffering from the disease to get back on their feet. The war on drugs rings on, but changes are being made.

Currently, America incarcerate a higher percentage of its citizens than any other industrialized nation in the world. The negative impact of addiction to alcohol and drugs on American culture and society is inescapable. Although various treatment models have been developed and implemented over the years, a monumental number of people struggling with substance dependence continue to be under treated. Whereas, many people are questioning the criminalization people face because they ingest or consume drugs, for the most part, the criminal justice system focus more on incarceration instead of rehabilitation for the offenders and addicts.

Drug abuse is shown to be connected to all different kinds of crime in the United States, and in many circumstances, crime is inspired by drug abuse and addiction. In fact, 80% of criminal offenders abuse drugs or alcohol (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Also, 60% of those who are arrested test positive for illicit drugs when they are arrested, and 60-80% commit another crime, typically drug-related, after leaving prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). And, even after these individuals put in the time in prison that would allow them to go through the uncomfortable process of detoxing, 95% of them will chose to go back to drug abuse after prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Given these overwhelming statistics, it is clear that drug abuse, and repeated or continued drug abuse, are a serious problem facing the criminal justice system.

The United States is desperately in need of prison and criminal justice reform. The current system miserably fails at lowering recidivism rates, limiting prison populations and rehabilitating drug and alcohol addicts. This is because very few prisoners receive drug treatment in prison, and those who do receive inadequate treatment. Fortunately, there are a multitude of upcoming drug treatment techniques that have proven effective in treating addiction. As a result of refining drug treatment in American prisons, not only will more drug addicts overcome their addiction, but the prison population will be reduced and the United States improve financially.

With substance abusers, they require different needs than the non abusers in prison or jails. Some may require some medical help. The medical help could help with withdraws that abusers will face while in jail or prison. They also need to see if there is any underlying mental illness. They also require more time with therapists, and others, since they should seek more time and help. They should also get group based programs, so that some can get the help and guidance they need from other inmates. Since others going through a program can relate more and share their story and how they have

World Prison Population List published that about 11 million people were held as detention, remand and sentenced prisoner in 2011; United States had the highest prisoner population rate worldwide with 743 per 100,000 of the national population (Walmsley, 2011). Majority of prisoners from poor minority communities are experienced chronic diseases, drug abuse and mental illness. In U.S., 65% prisoners achieved the medical criteria for substance abuse and addiction (Columbia Univ., New York, &NY. Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2010); in Australia, 54% prisoners reported drinking alcohol at unsafe level before imprisonment, and more than 60% of prisoners used illicit drugs during the previous 12 months (Victorian Auditor-General’s Office [VAGO], 2013). In terms of the data above, more than half the prisoners have drug use and dependence behaviour. Due to the illegality of drug market and high expense, substance use suffering inmates are four times more likely to involve in illegal activities to gain more money (Columbia Univ., New York, &NY. Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2010), which contribute the incredible number of substance abuse prisoners.

Drug and alcohol abuse and addiction contribute to the largest portion of all crime, and this correlation is the leading culprit to induce crime. (Goode, 2012) Although there is a common knowledge of drug and alcohol abuse, drug and alcohol abuse or addiction contributes to the largest portion of all crime, and this correlation is the foremost culprit to induce crime. Across the United States and throughout the world there is an epidemic of epic proportion involving drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction is defined as a psychological illness characterized by intense craving for a particular substance (Corrections pg 652). Substance abuse problems are extremely difficult to treat because individuals most at risk for becoming addicted share many of the same traits associated with chronic criminal behavior, with many of the traits being genetic (Corrections, pg 434). Each year, nearly 700,000 men and women are released from prison into communities across the United States (Sabol, Minton, and Harrison 2007). Many do not make a successful transition: two-thirds are arrested within three years and one-half are returned to prison, either for parole violation or new crimes (Langan and Levin 2002). This revolving door phenomenon is costly in terms of criminal justice system costs, not only the human and social costs suffered by crime victims, returning prisoners, their families, and the communities in which they reside.

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to

It is common knowledge that America has the world’s largest population of prisoners, and in 2008, a study was completed by the Pew Charitable Trusts which indicated that half of the inmates in jail and prison are serving time for nonviolent drug charges (http://www.pewstates.org/news-room/press-releases/new-pew-study-finds-36-percent-increase-in-prison-time-served-85899394970). Since the “War on Drugs” approach about forty years ago, the criminalization of the addict has done very little to address the problem of substance abuse in society. While there is no one clear cause of substance abuse, there have been patterns identified in substance abusers, that may be the underlying factors that lead to the addiction. Some of these factors include mental health and biology.

Drug abuse and crime is not a new concept and the statistics around the problem have continued to rise. According to (Office of Justice Programs, 2011), there were an estimated 1,846,400 state and local arrests for drug abuse in the United States. Additionally, 17 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs (Office of Justice Programs, 2011). Based on this information, we can conclude that our criminal justice systems are saturated with drug abusers. The United States has the highest imprisonment rate and about 83 percent of arrests are for possession of illegal drugs (Prisons & Drug Offenders, 2011). Based on these figures, I can conclude that we should be more concerned about solving the drug abusers problems and showing them an alternative lifestyle rather than strict penalty of long term incarceration which will inevitably challenge their ability to be fully functioning citizens after release.