The Importance Of Drug Use In Prisons

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

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.

Between 1990 and 1999, individuals who were convicted of a drug crime rose past 100,000, which accounted for 20 percent of our nation’s increased prison population (Lurigio, 2008). Between 1995 and 2003, the number of drug-related offenders constituted the largest increase of criminals in our nation’s prison population (Lurigio, 2008). In 2004, approximately 50 percent of state prisoners were known to be substance abusers or have drug dependency (King & Pasquarella, 2009). During these years, drug offenders were crowding dockets, prisons, and nearly the entire criminal justice system (Lurigio, 2008). Due to the expensive cost of handling such cases and the difficulty of changing the habits of drug abusers, community based programs were introduced to slow the drastic increase of drug-related incarcerations (Lurigio, 2008). According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Americans owed nearly 32 billion dollars toward criminal justice expenses, 31 billion dollars toward lost productivity, and three billion towards property damage in 1998 (King & Pasquarella, 2009). These chain of events built the foundation for Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) here in the United States. The origin of the first-ever drug court was located in the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989 (King & Pasquarella, 2009). DTC programs maintain

Drug offenders are one of the fasting growing populations in federal prisons. Drug offenders constitute up to nearly half of the federal prison population (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2015). They constitute, by far, the largest percentage of the population with the second highest offense being weapons, explosives, and arson at a mere 16.1% of the federal prison population (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2015). In a 1971 press conference, President Richard Nixon labeled drug abuse “public enemy number one in the United States,” which the media shortly termed the “War on Drugs” (Public Broadcasting Service, 2014). In a measure to combat the War on Drugs, President Nixon implemented mandatory sentencing (Drug Policy Alliance, 2015). Mandatory

Another major subset in the overall prison population in the U.S. is the growing rise in incarceration rates of drug offenders. Professor Blumstein notes that when considering the growth of incarceration rates by specific type of crime, such as murder, robbery, assault, burglary, drugs, and sex offenses during the two decades from 1980 to 2001, the single most important result was that the prison rate for drug offenders increased by a factor of 10; moreover, these drug offenders currently account for the largest percentage of both state and federal prison populations (Blumstein, 2011).

There is no doubt that crimes committed by these addicts are harmful to our society, but there is certain validation to course of their actions. So if people that have this addiction illness are ultimately incarcerated, it is the responsibility of our government to provide them with holistic treatment. This will provide purpose for the convicts that truly want to overcome their addiction and become contributing members of society once they are released. Our health and public polices can have positive change in the future if leaders followed the belief of New Jersey’s state Governor Christie, who fully supported drug and alcohol treatment because making this treatment “more available for everybody” was “part of government’s job”.

In our society we are faced with a drug addiction problem that is not being dealt with properly. Our use of incarceration as a means to deal with this

“Nearly ninety percent of substance abusers”, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health”, do not believe that they need treatment (Gogek). If they are offered treatment instead of jail, “they’ll relapse back to drugs and alcohol, commit other crimes, and end up back in prison” (Gogek). Jail, as a threat, is needed in order to keep “addicted criminals” in “long-term recovery”(Gogek). Involuntary treatment, has been shown to be more successful those who chose to get treatment voluntarily. Furthermore, drug offenders that are told that failure of their recovery could mean a return back to prison “are twice as likely to complete

Substance abuse is also a factor in recidivism rates. A sizable amount of prisoners met the DSM-IV criteria for either drug dependence or abuse in 2004, with 45% of those in federal prison and 53% of those in state prison diagnosed (Karberg & Mumola, 2006). The Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities completed by the Bureau of justice Statistics in 2004 found that almost one third of state prisoners admitted that their crime was committed while they were under the influence of an illegal substance. It also found that one in every three inmates committed their crime to gain drug money (Karberg & Mumola, 2006). Those who were at high risk for substance abuse were more likely to recidivate than those without drug issues (Wikoff, Linhorst, & Morani, 2012).

A research study was done by professors at the University of Denver on prisoners after they are released. Once released from prison, prisoners have an elevated risk of dying due to drugs within a short amount of time. The study compares prior drug history, prescriptions, and other overdoses. The inmates were contacted two months after they were released to see if they are using, suicidal, religion, or programs they are involved in. The study includes ways to help prevent relapse and death in recently released convicts.

Phillips article emphasized the discouraging information that substance abuse and recidivism go hand and hand. Phillips draws the viewer’s attention to some statics that was published in 2000 stating a prisoner will face issues with substance abuse following release because more than 73% of people with a criminal past is related to drug abuse and incarceration. Phillips aids the audience to the research that was conducted inside an East Coast prison where the participants were the convicted felons themselves. They were all men of various ages, diverse, and different education levels. The interview was to gather information on their substance abuse past to determine if it would

Drug addiction can cause harm to a person’s brain and alter their judgment. Therefore, drug treatment programs can help to turn these criminals around into law abiding

The United States Correctional System is often challenged as to whether it wants to rehabilitate drug offenders or punish them, and because of this it mostly does neither. Even though drug abuse and drug trafficking are widely spread national issues, the mental, social, and economic costs of "healing" through incarceration are only making the "disease" worse. Never before have more prisoners been locked up on drug offenses than today. Mixed with the extremely high risks of today's prison environment, the concept of incarceration as punishment for drug offenders cannot be successful. Without the correct form of rehabilitation through treatment within Michigan's Correctional System, drug

I agree with you one-hundred percent. People base everything on beliefs. If people want drugs they will figure out a way to get drug or make their own. If they would decriminalize drugs somewhat and make the punishment not as hard it might help jail and prison population. We are all equal on this earth and we need to help the people with drug problems. Whether, it's with rehab or another form of helping drug users it's a battle that we all face. Prisons keep growing everyday and if we don't help people out it's going to get a lot worse.

One of the most profound problems that plagues our society is drug addiction. With drug addiction comes those who offend and have run-ins with the law. Our country deals with these drug-addicted offenders by placing them in jails for a year or longer, only to have them come back out to society when their sentence is over. They are still drug-addicts and so they return to the street only to commit yet another crime. From here the cycle of crime, arrest, jail, and return to society continues, solving absolutely nothing. Therefore, placing drug-addicted offenders in jails fails to confront the major problem at hand which is that of the drug abuse. If drug-addicted offenders were placed in drug treatment centers instead of being incarcerated,