Forum: Close to Home
Topic: Viewpoints - The U.S. spends two-thirds of its drug war budget on interdiction and law enforcement and one-third on treatment and prevention. Is this the appropriate ratio?
Topic Posted by: Close To HomeDate Posted: Wed Mar 18 15:22:22 1998
Posted by: coleen (coleen1@gte.net )
Date posted: Fri May 8 0:04:33 1998
Subject: money spent on treatment
Message:
we keep building more jails and it's very obvious it does not work. Would we send anyone else who has a DISEASE to get punishment or help? They treat them like a piece of junk and then expect them to get out and be productive members of society.(ya right) and it's obvious it works. We know with long term treatment there is a 3 times greater chance of not returning to drug addiction. Not 30 day or 60 days we are talking a year or more how could anyone change there whole life in a matter of months we dont expect anyone else with a disease to just get over it that fast do we? People who have this disease or work in the field of addiction such as my self know what works. But sometimes it is not about us it is about money and when we focus on the big dollar we lose what is important in life. The people who suffer from this disease and there familys.
Posted by: Scott P.
Date posted: Sun Apr 19 18:39:00 1998
Subject: Treatment vs. prison
Message:
I think more needs to be spent on treatment, and finding a
"cure" for addiction. But whether you agree with the laws or not, they should still be followed, and those who break them should understand the risks.
Posted by: Miriam Harpaz (nharpaz@saveware.com )
Date posted: Fri Apr 17 19:29:28 1998
Subject: Spending money on treatment instead of incarceration
Message:
We should not be throwing addicts into jail at all. We should provide them with treatment. Would anyone out there
put a AIDS victim or cancer victim in jail for being sick.Addicts have a disease and need to be treated for it.
Posted by: john m. (jmeagher@luthersem.edu )
Date posted: Wed Apr 15 16:05:48 1998
Subject: treatment vs. prison
Message:
Why does America constantly waste money on interdiction, prison and other "programs" in our battle against drug abuse? Why is it that a majority of teens think D.A.R.E. is so effective that the latest slogan for the acronym is "Drugs Are Really Expensive?" If the war on drugs has been a success, why are youth experimenting with drugs in such large numbers? It cost 8 times as much to jail an addict as it costs to put him/her into drug rehabilitation. Why do we waste so much money and resources on incarceration when recidivism is so high without treatment? Wouldn't it be nice to use all that capital for some efficient and productive social programs. We might even have some residual effects if all addicts are given a chance (or 3 or 4) to clean-up their life, repair their families, become productive citizens (hey, an increased tax base, what a novel concept) and use all their God-given talents to make life full? It makes too much sense, otherwise our elected officials would have ignored all those lobbists and implimented a bill requiring rehabilitation instead of wasting our money on prison and fake reform efforts. Go ahead America spend, spend, spend on useless military efforts impersonating interdiction attempts. We have to eliminate the reason(s) for addiction, not just sweep our problems under the rug (incarceration). I don't understand this whole wasteful concept!!!!
Posted by: Mickey E (vwt@aol.com )
Date posted: Thu Apr 9 9:44:34 1998
Subject: Spending on interdiction or treatment
Message:
You would think that a capitalist society would understand the basic principle of supply & demand! If there was no market there would be no need to supply. There seems to be an inordinate desire to escape or retreat from reality in our country. That is what creates the market. Why not fix the problem.