The addiction to drugs is a difficult thing for any individual to deal with. Often, addiction leads to the decline of a person’s well-being, financial security, and health. Drug addicts have a hard time keeping a job, their families suffer the consequences, and sometimes the addicts find themselves either in trouble with the law, or homeless on the street.
The issue of treating drug abusers has been discussed in great detail in our country for decades. There are those that say we should buckle down on drug users and increase our illegal drug enforcement in order to put all those drug-using criminals behind bars. However, those that just want to lock up every drug addict are ignoring the fact that drug addiction is a sickness, and without
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One of their answers is to solve the housing problem, and then get these people into drug treatment, rather than send them straight to jail.
Cost effective treatment
Overall, it would save states money to focus on fixing the underlying problem of drug addiction, rather than try to manage drug addicts with jail time. If we look at the cost for the court system, law enforcement, jail time, and emergency health care and shelter for those that go right back to drug abuse once they are out of jail; the cost of simply putting a drug addict in jail really adds up.
On the other hand, if a drug addict is sent to a treatment facility where they can get the help they need to overcome drug addiction, the individual stands a chance to get back out into the world and contribute in a positive way to society. In New York’s estimation, sending those convicted of nonviolent drug crimes to treatment rather than jail will save the state a quarter of a billion dollars a year. Financially in the long run, and for the benefit of the addict, it seems addiction treatment rather than jail is the way to go.
Sources
NY eases drug laws, sees annual savings of $250 mln Mar 27,