Pubdate: Sun, 25 Oct 2009
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus,GA)
Copyright: 2009 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author: Dusty Nix

DRUGS, CRIME, COMMON SENSE

It's true for a community and it's true for a country: We can't jail
our way out of drug abuse.

If anything has become crystal clear in the decades since the phrase
"war on drugs" became part of the national vernacular, it's that
undeniable reality.

It's part of the reason Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington, with years of
experience as a police officer, police chief and commissioner of the
Georgia Department of Corrections, is so adamant about the distinction
between law enforcement and crime prevention. Whether the mayor
manages to get the crime prevention panel and director he's been
lobbying for remains to be seen. But his insistence that prevention of
crime and responses to crime are very different things is a point that
too often gets lost in the discussion.

In recent days, as part of our annual Red Ribbon Week focus on
substance abuse and its consequences, you've seen real-life stories of
people caught in the drug snare -- as users, as the friends or loved
ones of users, as victims of drug-related crime. (Too often, the
latter two categories overlap.) Some of these stories are of the
bleak, dead-end variety; others are inspiring accounts of personal
triumph over addiction and hopelessness.

Of course law enforcement and incarceration often must be part of the
process. Given the collateral damage of substance abuse on others
besides the abusers themselves, it would be foolish to suggest otherwise.

But arrest and jail, while they can sometimes begin the rehabilitation
process, are seldom enough to right a life gone wrong as a consequence
of addiction. And while there will always be that mindset that scorns
alternative approaches to drug abuse, this isn't a matter of coddling,
but of common sense.

It's also a matter of economic sense. As detailed in Tim Chitwood's
Thursday report on jail detox and subsequent treatment alternatives,
incarcerating somebody for a drug offense is an expensive proposition
for taxpayers right from the start. And that's just for occupying a
bed. Prisoners are not just housed; they also must be treated for the
health effects of drug abuse -- dental problems, infection,
malnutrition, alcohol or other kinds of poisoning ... the list is
drearily familiar, and incredibly costly.

So, of course, are the effects on others of drug abusers who do their
jail time and fall back into old habits: thefts, prostitution and
other crimes committed to get drug money; substance abuse-fueled
violence, including increased rates of domestic violence; the public
safety menace of drunk and drugged drivers.

Rehabilitation and other support programs as alternatives to staying
behind bars are approaches we should consider not just acceptable, but
essential. Every human being saved from drugs and crime is not just a
net savings in fiscal and human costs, but someone who contributes --
to the tax digest and to the culture.

And, as we've seen, can be a living object lesson for others. 
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