Drug Abuse and the Problem of Criminalization Essay

Introduction

Most countries, particularly the United States, are under an increasing fiscal pressure because, in part, of the rapidly growing population of the convicted drug prisoners. The high cost of incarceration means that the population increase is the major cause of the inadequacy in resources allocated to the correctional facilities. The greatest concern is why drug and substance abusers end up in the prison while there are so many options to deal with such cases including treatment. Various polls show that there is great level of frustration among the taxpayers by the existing policies and regulations on substance abuse (House, Coker & Stowe, 2016). Incarcerated convicts have a higher propensity of committing other crimes, meaning that locking drug offenders behind bars is a viable solution. There are so many people in the prisons and it would be wiser for judges to settle for the option of treatment rather than imprisonment. Essentially, the criminal justice system should choose treatment of drug and substance abusers over imprisonment to prevent the clogging of the prison system.

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Majority of Americans (67%) support the idea of treating those engaged in drug or substance abuse. It is worth noting that only 22% of thos3 polled supported the idea of incarceration or criminalization of drug abusers (House et al., 2016). Additionally, 57% of those imprisoned are most likely to be repeat offenders, meaning that incarceration is not as effective or efficient as perceived. Additionally, 86% of Americans currently believe that there are so many people already serving time for crimes, meaning that they favor alternative ways of dealing with crimes such as substance or drug abuse (House et al., 2016). Many of the offenders in the criminal justice systems are drug abusers. Application of alternative methods is necessary to decongest the prisons and to save the taxpayers substantial amount of resources. For example, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional facilities found that close to 42% of those incarcerated were drug abusers. Therefore, drug abuse consisted of the largest single category of conviction. Many people tend to think that incarcerating the drug offenders is the best way to make communities safe. However, such people normally rejoin society, maybe within a few months or years after conviction. Most drug abusers may rejoin the community after serving their time, but might go back to prison since there is no mechanism to deal with the root cause of drug abuse and addiction.

Reasons for Treatment over Criminalization

The fiscal cost of incarceration or imprisonment is usually higher that the cost of treatment. The cost of treating drug offenders is less expensive than the overall cost of imprisonment. The cost of treatment per client averages $2000 while the cost of imprisonment stands at approximately $7 000 per client of an average period of incarnation of drug abusers. Alternative treatment of drug abusers is quite effective (House et al., 2016). For example, the State of New York launched a program called the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) that enable drug or alcohol addicts to seek therapeutic or residential alternative to imprisonment (Lewis, 2016). The impact of the program was quite profound. It reduced drug use and recidivism, saved money, and improved significantly the probability of the individual securing employment. The average cost of enrolling a person into the DTAP per year was close to $17 000, which is close to half of the cost of imprisonment that stands at $35 000 per annum (Lewis, 2016). As an alternative to treatment, treatment is already saving substantial amount of money for the state of Maryland. The state has back-end alternative that focus on treatment after the person served some prison time. Additionally, the state has exit strategy that includes day reporting, treatment centers, home detention, and intensive supervision. In other words, the latter focuses on Community Option Program (COPs). The application of the mentioned options reduces the average cost of housing an offender from $18 000 to $4 000 in the entire period of rehabilitation (Lewis, 2016).

Treatment is more effective in reducing drug abuse while simultaneously building the community. Every kind of treatment modality yields a pattern of significant reduction in drug and alcohol use as witnessed in various American states. People discharged from the treatment programs funded by the state or the federal government, especially the ones that completed the treatment, showed reduced use of substance in comparison to the time of admission. Treatment leads to the reduction in the number and the frequency of arrest and conviction related to drug and substance abuse. Offenders who went through treatment and completed the entire process showed a reduction of close to two-thirds and close to 55% in arrests related to drug possession. Generally, successful completion of treatment led to reduction of the propensity or the inclination towards criminal behavior (Lewis, 2016). Various surveys and studies show statistically significant and substantial reduction in arrest and criminal behavior after enrolment and subsequent completion of the treatment process (Lewis, 2016). It means that treatment does not only affect individual's inclination to drugs and substance abuse, but also changes the person to a point that they adopt overall positive behavior. For example, the percentage of people arrested for the possession of drugs reduced by more than 50% in Maryland after the establishment of alternative treatment options. Additionally, the percentage of people arrested for drug-unrelated offences in the mentioned states declined by close to 65%, which is a profound improvement by all standards (Flores et al., 2017).

Part from reducing the rates of arrests and minimizing the levels of drug addiction, many program focus on building the community and succeed in that endeavor. Towards this end, treatment helps people who face serious addiction and substance abuse challenges become community builders. Research shows that people who enroll in a drug treatment program have more chances of employment than they had before their enrolment in the program. For instance, people who undergo the DTAP have higher chances of securing employment in the year after employment than the year before treatment. The individuals who complete the program have 25% chances of getting employment and relatively higher remuneration rates than the people who did not enroll in the program (Flores, Santos, Makofane, Arreola & Ayala, 2017). On the other hand, criminalization or imprisonment reduces a person's chances of employment. The conviction records form part of their curriculum vitae, meaning that they carry the burden of conviction with them making it difficult, almost impossible to secure reasonable employment. Closely related to that is the fact that treatment programs normally reduce homelessness and promote independent living (Robertson & Swartz, 2018). A critical look at the two models reveals that treatment portends more benefits than criminalization on matters to with drug and substance abuse.

Why Criminalization is a Failure

It is worth noting that a number of people complete their rehabilitation or the treatment program as long as the facilities meet the basic requirements that include the provision of vocational training, education, and counseling to mitigate the mental health concerns. The success may not be instant, but in the long-term people enrolled in the programs reap the benefits. People recovering from substance abuse or drug addiction tend to relapse, particularly in the first stages of recovery (Robertson & Swartz, 2018). The only option of the prison system is to re-incarcerate the individuals should they relapse, leading to a viscous circle of imprisonment that mainly serves to plunge the individuals to more crimes and criminal activities as they brush shoulders with other convicted persons. In essence, criminalization of drug and substance abuse does not address cause of addiction and the need to quit, making it difficult for people to recover. Imprisonment leads to loss of jobs and relationships, which are the major factors that give meaning to life. Treatment or enrolment into viable programs is a better way than criminalization.

Conclusion

Treatment of individuals is a better and more fiscally sound method for dealing with drug and substance abuse than criminalization or incarceration. A credible percentage of released drug offenders relapse almost immediately due to lack of proper counseling and subsequent treatment. Therefore, the appropriate solution is offer treatment programs that allow the individuals to secure jobs and maintain proper relationships during and after the program. The chance of the ex-convicts of securing employment becomes quite slim. The chronic unemployment and joblessness due to their conviction record makes it easier for them to relapse to drug use due to stress and depression. Henceforth, the government should abolish mandatory jail sentences for individuals willing to enroll into alternative rehabilitation programs. Drug offender should have the option of enrolling into treatment programs.

References

Flores, J. M., Santos, G. M., Makofane, K., Arreola, S., & Ayala, G. (2017). Availability and use of substance abuse treatment programs among substance-using men who have sex with men worldwide. Substance use & misuse, 52(5), 666-673.

House, S. J., Coker, J. L., & Stowe, Z. N. (2016). Perinatal Substance Abuse: At the Clinical Crossroads of Policy and Practice. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(11), 1077-1080.

Lewis, M. S. (2016). Criminalizing Substance Abuse and Undermining Roe v. Wade: The Tension between Abortion Doctrine and the Criminalization of Prenatal Substance Abuse. Wm. & Mary J. Women & L., 23, 185.

Robertson, A. G., & Swartz, M. S. (2018). Extended-release naltrexone and drug treatment courts: Policy and evidence for implementing an evidence-based treatment. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 85, 101-104.