Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - July 24, 2006
Johnathon E. Briggs and Gary Washburn, Tribune staff reporters
The criminal justice community must understand that drug addiction is a brain disease that affects behavior, requiring personalized treatment (including medications such as methadone) and ongoing care after incarceration, according to the government agency's report, "Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations."
"This is an issue that affects every family in America," said Mayor Richard Daley, who appeared with agency director Nora Volkow and other officials at a news conference on the Near South Side. "It is on everyone's doorstep."
Agency officials decided to release the report in Chicago to highlight a pilot program that trains Cook County judges on the neuroscience of addiction and treatment. The program, which the agency sponsored, should help judges place addicted defendants in appropriate treatment.
Volkow said that the report summarizes three decades of research. Its purpose, she said, is to "merge the cultures of public safety and public health."
In a 2002 survey of the nation's jails, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 52 percent of incarcerated women and 44 percent of men met the criteria for alcohol or drug dependence. Yet a 1997 bureau survey showed that fewer than 15 percent of incarcerated offenders with drug problems had received treatment in prison.
Volkow said that every dollar spent on such treatment results in savings of at least $4 in preventing drug-related crimes. The estimated cost to the U.S. for drug crimes is $107 billion annually.
Court-ordered treatment can help break the cycle of addiction, but long-term changes require treatment that lasts longer than 90 days, the report concludes.
The report also recommends that offenders with infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis be linked to community-based medical care prior to release, to help curb transmission.
"This supports what we've been experiencing on a street level. We understand that incarceration [alone] does not heal addiction," said Rev. Patricia Watkins, executive director of the Target Area Development Corp., a faith-based non-profit in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
jebriggs@tribune.com
gwashburn@tribune.com
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