Drug Treatment Instead of Jail: Are People Abusing the System?
It’s not easy for police officers and other law enforcement officials to figure out the best way to deal with drug and alcohol addiction in those they arrest for breaking the law. Is the first priority the crime that was committed or the drug addiction, an issue that is both a crime and a medical issue in most countries? Around the world, the answer to this question has varied, but more and more often, governments are trending toward providing treatment for the alcoholics and addicts they arrest rather than throwing them in the clink and expecting them to magically turn things around and stop using when they’re released.
The Question of abuse of the system has risen, as has the question of cost. Is the drug court option really worth it? Does it work? Or does it just throw more money at a problem that refuses to go away?
Will People Cry Drug Addiction to Avoid Harsh Criminal Penalties?
It isn’t always promised that those who undergo drug treatment will get their charges or sentences dropped. In some places, those charges and the associated jail time just remain pending. As long as the patient stays on the straight and narrow, they will never have to go to jail. “Straight and narrow’ is usually defined by remaining actively engaged in their treatment program, following all the rules, avoiding relapse, and of course, engaging in no further criminal activity.
That is most commonly the rule in American states that offer drug court as an option. In some countries, jail time is still mandatory but drug treatment is provided concurrently. In some cases, a lesser, nonviolent charge or two may be dropped, and jail time may be lessened slightly as long as good behavior is maintained. Many countries, it seems, are cautious but hopeful when implementing the program. Most compare it to the mental health court programs instituted in most countries, courts that allow for the mental illness of the arrestee, and provide treatment knowing that as long as that person is getting help for their disorder, they are much less likely to commit another crime -and likely would never have committed the first one.
Are Drug Addiction Treatment Programs in Lieu of Jail Time a Waste of Money?
Do these programs work? There are countless testimonies from people who have benefited from the drug court programs. If they’re working, then they’re not wasting money. It costs far less to provide someone with drug addiction treatment than it does to incarcerate them -especially when that cost is multiplied by addicts returning to the street and committing more crimes in service of their drug addiction when they get out of jail. If only a few people turn their lives around, it is worth the cost of care.
What do you think?
