Pubdate: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 Source: Casper Star-Tribune (WY) Copyright: 2001 Casper Star-Tribune Contact: http://www.trib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/765 DRUGS, ALCOHOL PART OF REPEAT PRISONER PROBLEM CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Substance abuse is involved in 65 percent of the probation and parole violations in Wyoming, according to a survey by the state Department of Corrections. In a study of the state probationers and parolees, the department discovered that from July 1, 2000, to June 30 of this year, 768 convicts had their parole or probation revoked. Of those, 55 percent had it revoked entirely for a drug or alcohol abuse violation. Another 10 percent involved both misdemeanors and substance abuse, the department said. The department's study revealed that when convicts first came into the prison system 84 percent of probationers and parolees used alcohol, 65 percent used marijuana, 30 percent used amphetamines, 19 percent used cocaine, 10 percent used hallucinogens, and 3 percent used opiates. Inmates often tested positive for more than one substance, said Steve Lindly, the administrator for the Division of Field Services. Drug and alcohol use clearly have a big impact on the number of people who have their parole or probation revoked, Lindly said. That, in turn, makes the state prison system's population swell, said Judy Uphoff, director of the Department of Corrections. "The revocations really do have a major impact on our prison population," Uphoff told a legislative subcommittee on substance abuse and mental health Wednesday. Lindly said that treating such addictions, through a variety of programs already set up throughout the state, could slow the growth of the prison population. Officials want to focus on six counties - Laramie, Natrona, Sweetwater, Campbell, Fremont and Sheridan, Lindly said. Sixty percent of the state's 4,881 offenders under supervision come from those counties. Lindly said the agency also has discovered that not all treatment programs use the same standards. The department wants to smooth out the standards statewide so that people get the same program wherever they are. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake