Hines 1

Mackenzie Hines
Rogers 4
Government
26 October 2016
Rehabilitation Not Incarceration
Every person deserves the right to a successful path to recovery. Drug addiction in the
United States is an increasing issue that should not be solved by locking people up. The majority
population of our criminal system consists of those who commit minor crimes having to do with
drugs and alcohol. Providing assistive services to substance abusers would only leave room for
benefits in our federal prison system and overall crime rates in America. People who suffer with
addiction will only be able to progress and stay out of the criminal system if they are given the
opportunity to receive actual help and support. Substance abusers should be sent to rehabilitation
rather than federal prison because it would decrease prison population, it would cost less, and
actually confronts the issue of substance abuse instead of simply punishing users.
Prison populations are currently at an all time high. The demand for more prisons is
increasing along with the need to inhabit and care for more prisoners. The U.S. rate of
incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5 to 10 times higher than
the rates in Western Europe and other democracies (Travis). Our criminal system has an
excessive amount of people involved in it. This is not specifically because we have more crime
in America, but for the reason that we deal with criminals in an ineffective way compared to
other countries. We view more things as crime and therefore are forced to take in more prisoners,
when the crimes they commit could be dealt with by resolving their addictions with
rehabilitation. From 2000 to the present, the population continued to increase reaching our

Hines 2
current population of 191,476. (Federal Bureau of Prisons). The incarceration rate is only
increasing. As drug use becomes more prominent and laws enforcing the criminalization of drugs
increase, more people are being put into prisons. In a summation of 25 years of research
conducted at UCLAs Drug Abuse Research Center, Anglin and Perrochet (1998) concluded that
crime was an inherent part of illegal drug use and that the commission of property crimes almost
always increased to support dependence level use of heroin, cocaine, crack, amphetamine and
even marijuana. (Gottfredson). With this constant cycle of people returning to prison, the issue
of crimes committed by substance abusers will never be able to improve. Overpopulation in
prisons will continue to be a problem until we learn to provide people with beneficial aid in order
for them to recuperate their lives and escape the criminal system.
We send our tax dollars to those who commit crimes and are sent to prison. We also send
our tax dollars to those prisoners that return to prison, after committing another crime once
released. The fee to cover the average cost of incarceration for Federal inmates in Fiscal Year
2014 was $30,619.85 ($83.89 per day) (Samuels). An unreasonable amount of money we take
from everyday people are going towards keeping people in prison. Especially with a prison
population so high, it is impacting our need to spend more and more money towards prisons.
For example, the average cost for 1 full year of methadone maintenance treatment is
approximately $4,700 per patient, whereas 1 full year of imprisonment costs approximately
$24,000 per person (Is Drug Addiction Treatment Worth its Cost?). It is proven that it costs
less to send someone to rehabilitation than prison. If we set the need to send people to
rehabilitation, these people with addictions will be getting help, allowing them an opportunity to
keep out of the criminal system. The FY 2015 Budget requests a total of $8.5 billion for federal
prisons and detention. (US Department of Justice). Its not like prisons are underfunded. What

Hines 3
needs reform is the way we impact the lives of prisoners for the better, not the most effective
way to punish them. Not only will the impact of rehabilitation decrease costs for prisons and tax,
but it will also allow people addicted to drugs living in poverty to have more opportunity to
succeed and improve. In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 and older were
current (past month) illicit drug users; this represents 9.2% of the population aged 12 or older
(Drugs and Substance Abuse). Drug abuse is a large issue in the United States, starting from a
young age. Those accessible to illicit drugs are inevitably more likely to be involved in drug
crime and substance abuse. Our country is always looking for ways to improve the lives of
people, rehabilitation is a way for people to get better in an effective, cheaper way.
It takes a substantial amount of effort for someone to admit they have a substance
problem, let alone seek help. A huge percentage of those who commit crimes are substance
abusers, who are not willing to get better. If we take the effort to send these people to
rehabilitation, they will be able to recover and keep away from crimes and violence. Almost one
in three prisoners said they had committed their current offense while under the influence of
drugs, and about one in six had committed their offense to get money for drugs (BJS).
Providing people with rehabilitation will not only allow for less drug use in the United States,
but it will also prevent further crime. It is often that a person commits a crime under the
influence of either drugs or alcohol, taking away this factor will allow for crime rates to
decrease. Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners
were rearrested (Durose). Our prison return rate is at an all time high, and a large fraction of
those who return are criminals involved in drug crimes. Without help, substance abusers should
not be expected to get better and stop committing crimes. Addiction is a serious issue not
everyone has the capabilities of dealing with, they need others to guide them in the direction of

Hines 4
recovery. Its proven that rehabilitation works. Less people are violent, more people stay out of
crimes, and drug use in the United States decreases. Only benefits can come from rehabilitation,
and its what our country needs to improve prisons, along with every citizen's overall wellbeing.
Those that are opposed of rehabilitation argue that are substance abusers deserve
punishment or rehabilitation will not be effective. Some people have the belief that you are
responsible for your actions, so when you choose to abuse substances you should be willing to
face the consequences. From a moral standpoint, everyone has a right to make up for their
mistakes. Conviction for a federal offense of drug trafficking is the most common offense, 41.7
percent of the study group and 36.4 percent for the 2014 sentenced group. (Saris). If there are
that many people in prison due to the influence of drugs and alcohol, it is the more intelligent
decision to do anything in our power to make drug crime less of a problem. Continuous
punishment towards people in the cycle of incarceration will not help in the long run. Individual
involvement is beneficial. The activities range from watching short films to discussions of
personal violent actions that the inmate bestowed upon someone else (MacKenzie). In a
research conducted to see if rehabilitation was proven effective, it was discovered that it was.
With special techniques and set plans to recovery, inmates were able to rehabilitate and improve.
The threeyear returntoprison rate for the 95,690 offenders who comprise the Fiscal Year
201011 release cohort is 44.6 percent, which is a 9.7 percentage point decrease from the Fiscal
Year 200910 rate of 54.3 percent (Kernan). Its proven that rehabilitation is effective if done
the right way. It should be our moral obligation as a country to allow each and every person to
have a chance to get back on their feet.
In order for this countrys crime issue to improve, we need to be willing to make change
to our criminal justice system for the better. Sending substance abusers to rehabilitation rather

Hines 5
than federal prison will decrease prison population, lower costs, and treat people rather than
punish them. Our crime population is far larger than other countries, with the leading cause as
the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Not only will rehabilitation allow people to get better, but it will
also improve our overall drug issues in America. Our efforts need to be directed towards helping
people keep away from the criminal system rather than keep them in it.

Works Cited

Print Sources:
Travis, Jeremy. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States. The National Academy
Press. Print. 2014. 18 October 2016.
Internet Sources:

Hines 6
Samuels, Charles. Annual Determination of Average Cost Incarceration. Bureau of Prisons,
Justice, 2014. Federalregistar.gov. Web. 18 October 2016.
Is Drug Addiction Treatment Worth its Cost? National Institute of Drug Abuse, January 2011.
Drugabuse.gov. Web. 18 October 2016.
BJS. Drug and Crime Facts. Bjs.gov. October 2006. Web. 18 October 2016.
MacKenzie, Doris. Analyzing the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation. Digitalcommons.uri.edu.
2009. Web. 18 October 2016.
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Historical Information. bop.gov. Web. 25 October 2016.
US Department of Justice. FY 2015 Overview. FY 2015 Budget Request, 2015. Justice.gov.
Web. 25 October 2016.
Gottfredson, Denise. Substance Use, Drug Treatment, and Crime: An Examination of IntraIndividual Variation in a Drug Court Population. ccjs.umd.edu. 2008. Web. 25
October 2016.
Durose, Matthew. Recidivism. National Institute of Justice, 2014. Nij.gov. 17 June 2014. Web.
25 October 2016.
Saris, Patti. Recidivism Among Federal Offenders: A Comprehensive Overview. United States
Sentencing Commission, 2016. Ussc.gov. March 2016. Web. 25 October 2016.
Kernan, Scott. 2015 Outcome Evaluation Report. California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, 2015. Cdcr.ca.gov. Web. 25 October 2016.
Drugs and Substance Abuse. National Institute of Justice. Crimesolutions.gov. Web. 25
October 2016.

Hines 7