According to a story this week on the Scientific American website, federal prisons currently lack sufficient drug treatment programs for inmates. According to a recent study, approximately 1.7 million adults (more than 2 percent of the population) are currently incarcerated or on probation. About half of them are addicted to a substance such as heroin, alcohol, crack, or methamphetamines (meth), but only 20 percent of those substance abusers actually receive effective treatment. These data come from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Study co-author and NIDA director, Nora Volkow, commented on the cost-effectiveness of implementing effective drug treatment programs within the criminal justice system:
"For every dollar that you spend on treatment of substance abuse in the criminal justice system, it saves society on average four dollars."
(Source: www.sciam.com)
Labels: treatment_programs, substance_abuse, prision
Posted By: Aspen Education Group