Pubdate: Fri, 15 Sep 2006
Source: Pantagraph, The  (IL)
Copyright: 2006 The Pantagraph
Contact:  http://www.pantagraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/643
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1214/a03.html
Author: Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.
Note: The Writer Is A Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, 
Washington, D.C.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

PRISON WRONG WAY TO COMBAT DRUG USE

McLean County's drug court is definitely a step in the right 
direction (``Drug court's implementation will benefit county,'' 
OurViews, Sept. 9, page A6), but an arrest should not be a necessary 
prerequisite for drug treatment.

Would alcoholics seek help for their illness if doing so were 
tantamount to confessing to criminal activity? Likewise, would 
putting every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and saddling them 
with criminal records prove cost-effective?

The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having 
the highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses 
accounting for the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big 
government at its worst.

At an average cost of $26,134 per inmate annually, maintaining the 
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative.

The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies upon can backfire 
when it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent habits rather 
than reduce them.

Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in jail and given a permanent 
criminal record. How many lives would be destroyed? How many families 
torn apart? How many tax dollars would be wasted turning potentially 
productive members of society into hardened criminals?

Reference For Above-Mentioned Stat:

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that in 1999, the nation 
spent $146,556,000,000 on the Federal, State and Local justice 
systems. In that year, the United States had 1,875,199 adult jail and 
prison inmates.

Based On This Information The Cost Per Inmate Year Was:

Corrections Spending Alone, $26,134 Per Inmate;

Corrections, Judicial And Legal Costs, $43,297 Per Inmate;

Corrections, Judicial, Legal And Police Costs, $78,154 Per Inmate.
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