Atlanta Recovery Center » incarceration

Well Done New York

Atlanta Recovery — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:47:11 +0000

This is great news – not only is the state of New York apparently pushing drug treatment instead of incarceration for those who are drug abusers, there are some real stats to show they are going to save money and lives.

From the article – “Every $1 invested in addiction treatment programs yields a return of between $4 and $7 in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft alone.

• Treatment Costs Less: $30,000 a year spent on residential treatment versus $40,000 a year for incarceration.”

Well done to New York!

Governor Commended for Making Rockefeller Drug Law Reforms Real, Saving Lives Through Treatment

“ALBANY, NY (10/07/2009)(readMedia)– State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Services (OASAS) Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo today commended the Governor on his leadership in making the Rockefeller Drug Law Reforms real – saving lives through treatment.

“Thanks to Governor Paterson’s vision and staunch leadership, we are celebrating a historic day for the addiction field and all New Yorkers,” said Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo. “Today, the draconian and failed policies of the Rockefeller Drug Laws are replaced with real reforms that will lead to real recovery for thousands of individuals struggling with alcohol and drug addiction – saving lives.”

For 35 years, New York placed a high concentration of drug users in prison under Rockefeller Drug Laws where drug possession resulted in lengthy prison terms. These misguided laws resulted in prison overcrowding, high costs to taxpayers and individuals being placed back in society who endlessly cycle back into the prison system, often referred to as the “revolving door” of addiction and crime.”

http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/Governor-Commended-for-Making-Rockefeller-Drug-Law-Reforms-Real-Saving-Lives-Through-Treatment/963450

Wrong Direction for New Directions

Atlanta Recovery — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:58:08 +0000

Isn’t it a shame, that with all the money that Congress is going to spend, primarily to get the economy going, that someone couldn’t have found a little money for New Directions Treatment Center. It probably would not have cost much to keep it open, and obviously, it has helped save some lives through the years.

Infusing money into drug treatment not only helps the economy with jobs, the savings in health and incarceration are potentially huge.

It is doubtful that any economic impact study was done of New Directions, but it probably would have shown contribution to the local work force and savings for the city and state government.

There are 23 million drug addicts – cocaine, heroin, prescription drugs and pot are predominantly the popular drugs.

Where are they all to go if we can’t even keep one tiny rehab open?

“When the New Directions Treatment Center closed its doors in late 2007, families and individuals with addiction problems faced even more challenges.

New Directions offered the only long-term, residential alcohol and drug treatment center in this part of the state. Patients lived and worked at the facility in Monitor, about two miles east of Lafayette.

Lafayette’s Mike Timmons, a recovering addict, said that since the New Directions center went bankrupt, “there’s nothing like it around here” to help his addicted son.

The father said he is still grieving for another son who died of a drug overdose in February — five days after leaving prison.

“I used to work at New Directions, and I can’t believe it’s gone,” he said. “In the past 30 days, my son has needed help for a drug addiction. There is nothing.

“I tried Home with Hope (in Lafayette), but they said it was too soon since he used. They didn’t want him to go into withdrawal there.”

Timmons said he is taking care of his son at home.

“I’m just sitting on him,” he said. “He’s doing it the hard way.”

He said New Directions was one of the few residential treatment centers in the United States that…”

http://www.jconline.com/article/20091003/NEWS/910030339

TREATMENT WORKS

Atlanta Recovery — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:18:07 +0000

There probably has never been a study regarding the statistics of drug treatment versus incarceration that did not show that drug treatment is less expensive and more effective than incarceration.

This study shows that heroin and crack-cocaine addicts commit fewer crimes after receiving treatment, but the same is probably true for those who abuse methamphetamine or any other drug of abuse. Additionally, and most importantly, the investment goes towards raising the quality of life for the addict and associates.

The point is that treatment works.

“A study in the U.K. found that heroin and crack-cocaine addicts who received treatment for their addictions committed fewer criminal offenses, the Guardian reported Nov. 17.

The study followed 1,500 recently convicted heroin and crack users sentenced to addiction treatment instead of jail. The number of offenses committed by addicts fell by nearly 50 percent after they entered a treatment program. While theft decreased the most, reduction in crime was consistent, with fraud, drug possession, and prostitution all falling by half.”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/uk-study-shows-addiction.html