Pubdate: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM) Copyright: 2003 The Albuquerque Tribune Contact: http://www.abqtrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/11 Author: Antionette Tellez-Humble Note: Tellez-Humble is the director of the New Mexico Drug Policy Project of the Drug Policy Alliance. Visit: http://www.improvenewmexico.com/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/states/nm/ (New Mexico) BREAKING THE DRUG-ABUSE CYCLE Treatment, not incarceration, is the best way to handle minor drug offenses, says today's author, who urges New Mexico lawmakers to enact the proposed Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act. Many of us have faced the tragedy of drug abuse, within our own families or among our friends and co-workers. As we all know, New Mexico - like so many states - needs more-effective community-based treatment services to deal with these heart-wrenching problems. We also know that it's difficult to increase the availability of services when the economy is weak and state and local budgets are so tight. What can we do to start breaking the cycle of drug abuse that has captured so many people within our families and communities? Our legislators have an opportunity to do something that will move New Mexico in the right direction. Senate Bill 365, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, provides for supervised probation and appropriate community-based treatment, instead of incarceration, for first- and second-time nonviolent drug-possession offenders in New Mexico. Additionally, it expands and strengthens New Mexico's substance-abuse treatment system statewide by requiring the Department of Health to allocate treatment resources based on the recently completed 2002 Behavioral Health Needs and Gaps in New Mexico Report. So why should our legislators and Gov. Bill Richardson pass this law? First of all, it would enhance public safety. Instead of a system that potentially sends nonviolent drug possession offenders to jail or prison to learn how to commit more serious crimes, New Mexico would have a system that gets to the root of the problems. People with drug problems would receive appropriate community-based treatment services to learn how to deal with their addictions. Drug-related crime would be reduced, and jail and prison space would be reserved for violent offenders. Second, it would save New Mexico taxpayers money because the cost of probation and treatment is much less than the cost of incarceration, and because people who receive appropriate treatment services are more likely to become productive members of their families and society instead of committing future crimes. An independent study by the RAND Corporation found that every dollar invested in substance- abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs (crime, violence, loss of productivity, etc.). This same study found that additional law enforcement efforts cost 15 times as much as treatment to achieve the same reduction in societal costs. Wayne Salazar, former Chief of Police and now director of Community Corrections for Espa ola, put it best in saying, "You put pencil to paper, and you'll see that incarceration is expensive and it's ineffective. Drug abuse is a health problem." Different levels of treatment services cost different amounts, and New Mexico needs to increase treatment services at all levels. But even the most expensive treatment is less than a third of the cost of incarceration. According to a study, at the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, regular outpatient treatment costs an average of $1,800 per year; intensive outpatient treatment, $2,500 per year; opiate replacement treatment, $3,900 per year; short-term residential treatment, $4,400 per year; and long-term residential treatment, $6,800 per year. By comparison, incarceration costs an average of $25,900 per year. This means that for each person who receives treatment instead of incarceration, New Mexico could save between $19,100 and $24,100 per year. Some of those savings will be at the local level, and some at the state level - either way, more of our taxpayers' money is available for education and health care Third, laws similar to this one have a proven track record in other states. In recent years, voters in Arizona and California have overwhelmingly approved measures providing for treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. And they have seen the results they wanted to see: better outcomes for people going through the system and huge cost savings. The Arizona Supreme Court recently issued a report on the law's progress, finding that it saved Arizona taxpayers more than $6.7 million during fiscal year 1999, and that 62 percent of probationers successfully completed treatment. And, according to the court, "(This Act) has allowed the judicial branch to build an effective probation model to treat services on those who do not." In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 36. California's new law went into effect July 1, 2001, and according to the California State Legislative Analyst's Office, state taxpayers are expected to save $250 million a year as a result of the new law. Fourth, legislators are elected to represent the will of the people - and this is what the people of New Mexico want. According to a recent poll conducted by Research & Polling, Inc., 67 percent of New Mexico voters believe that too many tax dollars are spent keeping nonviolent drug offenders in jail when the money could be better spent on education and treatment. When specifically asked if they would support a bill such as this one - sending first- and second-time drug-possession offenders to treatment services instead of sentencing them to prison time - two out of three said yes. Whether they are male or female, Anglo or Hispanic, Republican or Democrat, the people who put our legislators and governors into office support this change in our state's laws. Finally - and most important - this bill would help save lives by providing a mechanism for treatment for people who have gotten caught up in the criminal justice system because of their drug addiction. By starting to deal with drug abuse as a health issue instead of simply a criminal justice issue, we can finally begin to break the cycle of drug abuse, criminal activity and recidivism. And there's no question that these services are desperately needed in New Mexico. According to the New Mexico Department of Corrections, 87 percent of the approximately 5,600 people in New Mexico's state prison system in 2002 were assessed as needing substance-abuse services, and 70 percent as substance abusing or dependent. Appropriate substance-abuse treatment reduces drug use by 40-60 percent, and it significantly reduces criminal activity during and after treatment. How many people wouldn't be there if they'd had access to treatment services early on? With this bill, New Mexico won't just be tough on drugs; we'll finally start being smart on drugs. We stop wasting money on expensive incarceration for people who don't need it. And, we start increasing access to effective treatment services throughout the state for those who do need it. Over time, that means big savings - both in money and in lives. We can't afford to wait. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex