Illicit drug use has been on the increase in Alaska over the past decade.
The prison system is saturated with drug offenders who later are released just to repeat their crimes. Unfortunately, there are few options for addicts in Alaska
The only Crystal Meth treatment facility in Anchorage has a waiting list for pregnant women, and currently is not accepting any other applications.
The state of Alaska spends excessive amounts of money incarcerating drug users, most of whom are repeat offenders. If more money is directed towards rehabilitation instead of incarceration, there will be a drop in drug related crimes, and a potential decrease in the congested prison system.
Treatment for addicts is cost-effective because it reduces costs related to drug use, health care, and crime, including incarceration costs. Adding an aftercare component to prison treatment programs reaps the greatest cost savings.
Although the initial funding outlay and logistical issues would be considerable, increasing access to different levels of treatment could provide substantial long-term economic and social benefits from reduced re-incarceration, easier transition to the community following release, and reduced drug abuse.
Not only does providing treatment to individuals involved in the criminal justice system decrease future drug use and criminal behavior while improving social functioning.
It also blends the functions of criminal justice supervision with drug abuse treatment and support to serve both public health and public safety concerns.
Left untreated, drug-abusing offenders can relapse to drug use and return to criminal behavior.
This jeopardizes public health and public safety, leads to re-arrest and re-incarceration, and further taxes an already over-burdened criminal justice system.
It is estimated that for every dollar spent on addiction treatment programs, there is a $4 to $7 reduction in the cost of drug-related crimes. With some outpatient programs, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12:1.
With all the data and resources available to the federal and state prison systems it continues to ignore the fact that drug addiction is a disease.
Would a diabetic be imprisoned without medical treatment or an epileptic refused seizure medication? This could potentially cause more problems where taxpayers would end up paying the bill.
If treatment is available to addicts, regardless of their social or economic status it will provide substantial long-term economic and social benefits to them and the surrounding community.
• Renee Bond is an Anchorage resident.
Comments (13)
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The jails used to have a well structured treatment program until gov before miss prim cut ALL tpyes of counseling in the prison system to save money
Angeleyes, I agree
Good post. It's not just your opinion either. I've been there to provide paperwork to some of the individuals living there and those that "work" there are rude, lazy and on a constant power trip and probably can't even spell "work ethics". They should have professionals working there, not just warm bodies.
Very few treatments programs
Very few treatments programs work either, especially government ran ones. A major part of the problem is that there is no efffective deterent. Our judicial system is spineless, giving out paltry sentences to a jail facility that is often better conditions than the person lived in normally, with good food, tv, access to a weight facility, access to a college education, medical care, etc. This is not a strong deterent for many. In fact there have been studies that many addicts seek out getting arrested in the fall to have a more comfortable winter. My earlier posting which was censored, suggested exercising our constitutionall guaranteed right to protect our homes and lives with lethal force. If more people followed that, there would be less crime. If one burglar was killed in Juneau, it would severely lessen crime. If you know that you are risking death, you must be far more determined to risk it than to get free hots and a cot. I dont mean to trivialize the death of a human being, but there has to be some sort of deterant and it is rather obvious that our current system is not providing that deterant.
No Treatment Programs "work"
...unless the person seeking treatment truly wants to stop the substance abuse. Doesn't matter if the program is on the inside or on the outside. Only when the individual has had enough and says "no more!" will any treatment work. kpawsuh, your comment about lethal force is over the top - having a tough week?
no easy treatment
There is no easy way to treat offenders. Many are violent and don't want to be treated. Many are FAS sufferers and are difficult to treat. Some have mental illness. You would need a security team, psychologists, mental health professionals, and maybe even the dog whisperer to work on just one person. No easy solution here.
Wolfmagic, have you ever been outside Juneau
and seen the violence many of these addicted persons are willing to inflict in order to get their next fix? Going to jail does not scare them at all. In fact in many jails it is almost as easy to get drugs on the inside as it is on the outside, which just boggles the mind. What would you suggest? Someone breaks into your house and is violently attacking your family, are you going to go out in the garden, pick a flower and give it to him in hopes he will reform?
no wonder they go back
When there are no jobs or places to rent because everyone can see their record online. Can't see if they have served their time, but lets make them pay for life.
That would be why you dont
That would be why you dont break the law...
Hi kpawsuh. I think you
Hi kpawsuh. I think you haven't thought this through.
You say if criminals know homeowners are armed and that their lives are in danger if committing a crime, they won't commit the crime. Your reasoning assumes that criminals commit crimes willy-nilly just because they feel like it, which is incorrect. In reality, criminals commit crimes because they feel they have to, whether due to poverty, substance abuse, or some other motivation. Furthermore, knowing that their efforts will be thwarted by gun-owning vigilantes, they will have more of an incentive to carry guns themselves.
Second, you say treatment programs don't work. Also incorrect. Treatment programs tend to greatly reduce recidivism.
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/17012/prison-reform-needs-more-pu...
Kwpash, I would recommend you leave this kind of thing to those versed in the social sciences. If anything were really a simple issue like you make it out to be, it would have been fixed by now.
Yeah, treatment programs work
Yeah, treatment programs work great. Thats why there are so few alcoholics and smokers out there.
I don't think alcoholism and
I don't think alcoholism and smoking are crimes. Way to make a completely unrelated point, though.
Alcohol and smoking
Both legal. What's your point?
Oh, the compulsive abusers? I'm gonna put money it's not alcohol, cigs, gambling, porn, sex, violence, sewing, working out, etc, or anything you'd like to pretend the problem is. You know, the stuff you can say "that's it!!". To steal a political line "it's the PEOPLE stupid".
People are dumb. All the time. They think they know better, that rules don't apply to them, or they can handle it. And best yet, pick a topic. Nearly eveything is a bad thing when it's taken to extremes.
Treatment is the only solution. Locking increasing % of our population up is patently shortsighted at best. Permanently damaging at worst. And no, it's not just "them" being personally stupid and irresponsible if we literally take them out back and brand them for life over stupid stuff that most people grow out of.
But you got one thing right for sure. Only people can fix themselves, no amount of money or programs will do it for them. The programs obviously help but aren't helping everyone they could when they are full and not taking any new applicants. THAT is pathetic on our priorities to ourselves. But irritatingly expected. Wealthy people have good lawyers, everyone else goes for the ride.
Anyone know the numbers now? When I graduated from HS the trends estimated 1/4 of the US will serve time in jail in their lifetimes and it's probably even higher now with all these feel good laws. Think about that.