Public Policy Solution #2
Addiction Treatment Increases Public Safety, Reduces Recidivism and Drug and Alcohol Use, and Saves Money

Extensive evidence from evaluations of drug courts and other diversion programs, prison-based treatment, and treatment in the community after release from incarceration demonstrate that criminal justice-based treatment significantly reduces drug and alcohol use and crime, as well as health and social problems.1


  • Addiction treatment has been shown to cut drug abuse in half, drastically decrease criminal activity, and significantly reduce arrest2 

  • Addictions treatment has been shown to improve the prospects for employment, with gains of up to 40 percent after treatment.3
  • In addition to reducing drug and alcohol use and crime and increasing employment, addiction treatment has have been shown to reduce expenses related to criminal justice and public health systems.4

  • The cost of addictions treatment is 15 times less than the cost of incarcerating a person for a drug -related crime.5

  • An investment by California in treatment resulted in savings of $1.5 billion over 18 months, with the largest savings coming from reductions in crime.6 

  • A 1997 RAND study concluded that spending funds to reduce drug consumption through treatment rather than incarceration would reduce serious crimes 15 times more effectively.7 

1 “Special Focus on Therapeutic Communities: Research in Review,” Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Volume 4, Number 2: August 2001, page 7, http://www.cor.state.pa.us/doc/lib/stats/RIR/Volume%204%20-%202001/RIRV4N2.pdf

2 Office of Evaluation, Scientific Analysis and Synthesis, Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. (1997) The National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES). 

3 Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations,” National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), August 2006

4 PLNDP and Join Together (January 2000).  A Physician’s Guide on How to Advocate for More Effective National and State Drug Policies. 

5 “From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry,” The Urban Institute, Jeremy Travis, Amy L. Solomon and Michelle Waul, June 2001, 27 http://www.urban.org/pdfs/from_prison_to_home.pdf

6 Id.

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