Pubdate: Fri, 10 Sep 2004
Source: Greenville News (SC)
Copyright: 2004 The Greenville News
Contact:  http://greenvillenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/877
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

JAIL, TREATMENT BOTH NECESSARY

Greenville County should move ahead with its plan to expand the jail, but 
it must also invest in drug, alcohol treatment.

Greenville County needs both an adequate jail to relieve oppressive 
crowding and treatment options for drug and alcohol abusers who cost our 
county tens of millions of dollars each year.

The County Council is divided on which is the more pressing need. But 
pitting one priority against another is counterproductive. Both sides 
should concede what is obvious and reasonable: Greenville urgently needs to 
expand its jail, and this county also needs to increase its commitment to 
treating substance abuse.

The majority of the council - most vocally the Republicans - stands firmly 
behind a jail expansion plan that could cost up to $23 million. It would 
add desperately needed beds to the Greenville County Detention Center, and 
it would also add a juvenile detention facility. Right now the jail 
averages about 1,200 inmates. But the jail only has about 950 beds. With 
such crowding, this county must create more bed space or risk facing sanctions.

District 25 Democrat Lottie Gibson, the most vocal critic of jail 
expansion, is rightly concerned about the breathtaking growth of the jail 
population. In just five years, the jail population has increased by 50 
percent, from about 800 inmates on average in 1999 to more than 1,200 
inmates per day now. Greenville is not alone. Richland and Charleston 
counties have also experienced rapid inmate growth. But none is as dramatic 
as Greenville's.

Gibson wants the county to invest in more substance abuse treatment. She 
makes her case by directly linking the crowding problem with the prevalence 
of drug and alcohol abuse in Greenville County. Most crimes, Gibson notes, 
are influenced by the use of drugs and alcohol - from domestic violence to 
countless property crimes.

But Greenville has a poor record of offering treatment to addicts. A study 
commissioned by county's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center estimates that more 
than 30,000 Greenville County residents are in need of treatment. The 
Phoenix Center, which receives 1 percent of its budget from the county and 
offers reasonably priced substance abuse treatment, has just 16 beds. 
Private providers are mostly out of reach of the indigent - the drug 
abusers who are most likely to contribute to the jail crowding.

An investment in treatment and prevention has proven to be wise. It is far 
more costly to repeatedly incarcerate and prosecute those offenders who 
might be receptive to treatment. Not all addicts are. Treatment is a road 
riddled with failure, and is successfully navigated only by those addicts 
fully committed to wellness.

Still, it is worthwhile for the county to identify those addicts receptive 
to treatment and provide them with help. This county's successful Drug 
Court is predicated on that concept. It allows participants to avoid jail 
by completing a strict outpatient program. Our county should support 
duplicating that kind of success.

Building a safe, adequate jail and providing substance abusers with 
treatment are not mutually exclusive. The County Council must value both, 
and each side must agree that both are necessary.
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