Treatment
Not
Jail:
California
Saving
Hundreds
of
Millions
of
Dollars
Thanks
to
Proposition
36,
Reports
Say
4/14/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/431/prop36.shtml
California's Proposition
36, the six-year-old program that mandates treatment instead of prison
for drug offenders, is saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars
while dramatically decreasing the number of drug offenders in prison in
the state, according to a new
study from the Justice Policy Institute. The JPI report echoes
a report released
last week by UCLA that found taxpayers save $2.50 for every dollar
invested in drug treatment and that the state saved $173 million in the
first year of Prop 36's operation alone.
![](https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/431/calprison.jpg) |
|
California prison |
|
JPI's report said the rate
of incarceration for drug possession offenses has decreased by more than
a third. Since Prop 36 went into effect, the percentage of state
prisoners doing time on drug charges has dropped from 27% to 21%, close
to the national average.
"Since Proposition 36 came
into effect, drug imprisonment in California fell, and this has saved Californian
taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars," said Jason Ziedenberg, coauthor
of the report, and executive director of JPI. "In a state that has
struggled with corrections and sentencing reform, Proposition 36 stands
out as a successful way to reduce drug imprisonment."
"The cost savings are dramatic,
but with increased system accountability measures and improved offender
management, as well as incentives to community programs for better treatment
entry, retention, and completion rates, they could rise even higher," said
M. Douglas Anglin, co-author of the UCLA study and professor-in-residence
of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences. "Our suggestions for boosting
those savings include further improvements in the coordination of services
and continuity of care within counties, better participant screening, improved
matching of services to needs, and attention to special populations of
drug offenders, including minorities and offenders with psychiatric problems."
The two reports will provide
powerful ammunition for those seeking to increase funding for Prop 36 programs.
Five years of voter-mandated funding run out this summer, and while Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has earmarked $120 million to cover costs next
year, that isn't enough, say reformers. Spending needs to be at least
$200 million next year, JPI study coauthor Scott Ehlers told DRCNet last
month.
-- END --
Issue #431
-- 4/14/06
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Feature:
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Treatment
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