It’s hard enough to make treatment a priority and work a program into everyday life, but what about those who are battling a substance abuse problem behind bars?
Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) recently released a comprehensive report on the cost and consequences of untreated substance abuse disorders in the nation’s correctional system. The 144-page report, Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population, shows that 65 percent of inmates behind bars today in the U.S. meet the medical criteria for a substance use disorder. Worse yet, only 11 percent get treatment while incarcerated.
The study found that 1.5 million of the nation’s 2.3 million inmates meet the DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse or addiction, and an additional 458,000 prisoners either have histories of substance abuse or their crimes were related to drug or alcohol use. Combined, those two groups represent a whopping 85 percent of the U.S. prison population.
Cost of Treatment
For those not moved by those numbers, it’s important to realize those stats also represent the money it will cost our country in the future if these inmates don’t get treatment. “The benefits of investing in treatment outweighed the cost,” BehavioralHealthCentral.com reported. “A large study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that the return on investing in treatment for this population may be more than $12 for every dollar spent on treatment.”
Another study showed that $74 billion dollars is spent every year in our criminal justice system coping with the consequences of our failure to prevent and treat addiction. That doesn’t even factor in the hidden long-term costs that include children who lose their parents to prison and the risk it puts those children at for future substance abuse issues.
“We just want to underscore the fact that addiction is a disease, that risky substance use is a public health problem, addiction is a treatable medical problem, and we know that these things can be treated effectively in the context of the justice system,” CASA said of the report.
Rehab at The Canyon
If you or someone you love is in need of drug rehab, call The Canyon at our toll-free number. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.
