Thinking About Corrections : Drug Treatment

Study Finds Majority of Arrestees in Major Metropoolitan Areas Test Positive for Illegal Drugs

CC Pro — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:52:00 GMT

Providing further verification of the linkage between drugs and crime, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released data from the 2008 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM II) revealing up to 87 percent of arrestees tested positive for illegal drugs within 48 hours of being booked into jail. The study data were compiled from a federal survey of 10 major metropolitan areas that combined drug testing and arrestee interviews. A significant number of arrestees tested positive for more than one illegal substance. Marijuana was the most commonly detected substance with broad regional variances in the use of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The report emphasizes the need to provide drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders.

Saving Money by Expanding Drug Treatment

Eileen Conway — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:51:00 GMT

As states look to balance burgeoning costs with public safety needs, the Urban Institute has released a timely report on the cost-benefits of expanding the availability of drug treatment among arrestees. In To Treat or Not to Treat: Evidence on the Prospects of Expanding Treatment to Drug-Involved Offenders, the authors find that strict eligibility rules are limiting access to treatment, and they simulate several policy changes to provide guidance to policymakers on the cost-benefits of treatment expansion. In their striking findings, "every policy change simulated in this study yields a cost-effective expansion of drug treatment. ... In particular, removing all eligibility restrictions and allowing access to treatment for all 1.47 million at risk arrestees would be most cost effective--producing more than $46 billion in benefits at a cost of $13.7 billion."