Drug rehab not time served reduces recidivism in Arizona

Much publicity has been generated by reformers and politicians alike particularly in regard to low level drug offenders, meaning those individuals who possessed illicit drugs but whose behavior was nonviolent in nature.

With the enactment of Proposition 200, Arizona has done much to change the number of individuals sent away for these low level offenses, instead employing a variety of different programs such as drug courts and community service programs. It's been successful in reducing the number of incarcerations but better still, those traditionally unable to receive drug rehab for their addictions have been able to do so via drug courts.

While there has been a reduction in low level convictions, prison populations have continued to expand primarily because of harsher mandatory sentencing such as "3 strikes and you're out". Incarcerated individuals now come out of the system at a slower rate than those entering it.

But it's interesting to note that longer prison sentences have been shown to have a minimal affect on recidivism rates. The Department of Justice tells us that two thirds of prisoners released are rearrested within three years of release and that recidivism only begins to show after 5 years of incarceration. Aging is thought to be the dominant factor in the cause of this recidivism.

It's these statistics that have perhaps prompted some to believe that harsher sentencing was the answer. If there was no recidivism anyway, why not at least keep the individual from society for as long as possible.

Obviously, there is a need to remove some individuals from society. Some crimes are so heinous that as a society we cannot allow those who commit them to be among the rest of us.  Of this there is no dispute.

Yet a staggering amount those convicted are done so for crimes relating to drugs. Low grade trafficking, street peddling, violent crime and theft are many of the reasons for prison sentencing and most of these are prompted by drug addiction. When you're addicted and your resources have run out, moral constraints are placed on the back burner as the next high is the only important thing.

The one thing that does work - drug rehab. The rates of recidivism drop from 66% to 20% when drug rehab programs are employed.

People can improve themselves and become constructive participants in society. Isn't our money better spent helping individuals with drug rehab programs instead of shuffling them off to compounds for longer and longer stays?