Pubdate: Wed, 25 Aug 2004
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2004 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: ROBERT SHARPE

JAIL ISN'T DRUG TREATMENT

Durham's drug court is definitely a step in the right direction 
[Herald-Sun, Aug. 18], but an arrest should not be a prerequisite for drug 
treatment. Would alcoholics seek treatment if doing so were tantamount to 
confessing to criminal activity? Likewise, would putting every incorrigible 
alcoholic behind bars and saddling them with criminal records prove 
cost-effective? The United States recently earned the dubious distinction 
of having the highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses 
accounting for the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big 
government at its worst. At an average cost of $26,134 per inmate annually, 
maintaining the world's largest prison system can hardly be considered 
fiscally conservative. The threat of prison that coerced treatment relies 
upon can backfire when it's actually put to use. Prisons transmit violent 
habits rather than reduce them. Imagine if every alcoholic were thrown in 
jail and given a permanent criminal record. How many lives would be 
destroyed? How many families torn apart? How many tax dollars would be 
wasted turning potentially productive members of society into hardened 
criminals?

ROBERT SHARPE
Washington, D.C.

August 25, 2004 The writer is a policy analyst at Common Sense for
Drug Policy. 
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart