Is Drug Treatment a Viable Alternative to Prison Time?

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Prisons and county jails are extremely over populated, so over populated that in some jails inmates are sleeping on the floors. According to Senator Jeanne Shaheen (From Senator Jeanne Shaheen: Prison Overcrowding, 2011), the federal prisons are currently 35 percent over their capacity. The overcrowding is costing the criminal justice system and taxpayers more money to transfer inmates to other facilities and in lawsuits brought by inmates against the prisons. With the prisons and county jails facing major overcrowding issues and drug treatment programs being a viable alternative to prison time, more states need to be implementing drug / treatment programs. Treatment / Drug Courts are specialized courts to help stop drug, alcohol, and related criminal activity (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,2011). These courts closely monitor the participants in the treatment programs and if a participant fails to meet the minimum requirements set by the courts, immediate sanctions are imposed (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 2011). The main goal of Treatment / Drug Courts is to give the individual a second chance to receive the therapy that is a necessity to help break the drug or alcohol addiction, without going to prison. Utilizing drug treatment programs, as an alternative to prison time does not just benefit the individual in the programs it also relieves some of the overcrowding prisons and county jails, saves the criminal justice system and taxpayers money, helps lowers the recidivism rates, and benefits the family of the individual in the drug treatment program.

After many years of prison population increasing, the utilization of Treatment / Drug Courts in the United States has helped with the long awaited decline i...

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...decline nationally, locally. Retrieved July 6, 2011, from EBSCOhost: http://search.ebsohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W61693996317&site=ehost-live

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). What Are Drug Treatment Courts? Retrieved July 1, 2011, from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.justice.gov/dea/ongoing/treatment.html

Zarkin, G. A. (2006, Febuary 3). Study Finds Drug Treatment Is Cost-Effective Alternative to Prison. Retrieved July 1, 2011, from RTI International: http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?objectid=45f0612f-80cf-452e-b9466cad5f1b786c

From Senator Jeanne Shaheen: Prison Overcrowding. (2011, June). Retrieved July 25, 2011, from EBSCOhost: http://web.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/ehost/detail?sid=0b342550-d055-4e34-93ef-4b7ab4ebabf8%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=voh&AN=60905407

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