Jess Clinkenbeard
Kaplan University
It is estimated that about 1/2 of State and Federal prisoners abuse or are addicted to drugs, but very few receive treatment while incarcerated. Starting drug abuse treatment in prison and continuing it after prisoners are released is important to both their recovery and to public health and safety.
Many studies show that putting together prison and community based treatment for addicted offenders lower the risk of both reoccurring to drug related crimes and drug relapse. This also saves money that taxpayers spend on those put away. A 2009 study in Baltimore found that opiate addicted prisoners who started methadone treatment in prison and then continued it after release had better outcomes than those who only received counseling while in prison. Or even those who only started methadone treatment after they were released.
Most of the offenders involved with the criminal justice system are under community supervision and not incarcerated. Drug addiction treatment may be recommended or court ordered as a condition of probation. Research has shown that men and woman who go to treatment because of a court order have outcomes similar to those who went to treatment on their own.
The criminal justice system puts drug offenders into treatment through many ways. Such as putting nonviolent offenders into treatment and ordering treatment as a court order. These courts dictate and arrange for treatment as an option other than being locked up, keeping track of progress in treatment, and offer other services for addicted offenders.
Almost all addicted individuals believe that they can stop using drugs on their own, and many try to stop without treatment. Even though some people are successful many attempts to stop on their own result in failure to attain long-term