Pubdate: Mon, 13 Apr 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A20
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced: Barred from Treatment 
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/03/24/barred-treatment-0
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

ADDICTION BEHIND BARS

The United States must do more to curb the spread of diseases like 
AIDS and hepatitis C in prison, where infection rates are high and 
inmates can easily spread disease through unprotected sex or by 
sharing needles.

Drug treatment in prison is clearly part of the solution. But by some 
estimates, fewer than one in five inmates who need formal treatment 
are actually getting it. That's alarming, given that about half the 
prison population suffers from drug abuse or dependency problems.

Addicted prisoners cause problems outside the walls. After they're 
freed, addicts with H.I.V. or AIDS can infect spouses and lovers. 
They feed their addictions by returning to crime, which lands them 
back in prison and starts the terrible cycle over again.

The most effective programs provide inmates with high-quality 
treatment in prison and continue that treatment when prisoners return 
to their communities. Such programs have been shown to reduce both 
drug use and recidivism.

But good programs are rare, according to a report earlier this year 
in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Prisons typically 
rely on the abstinence-only model, which fails miserably with heroin 
addicts. Moreover, prison officials are notoriously hostile to 
methadone maintenance and other chemically based therapies that have 
long been a standard for people addicted to opiates.

Prison treatment is particularly disastrous in New York, according to 
a new report from Human Rights Watch. Imprisoned addicts, the authors 
say, are typically shut out of treatment until their sentences are 
nearly over because of ill-conceived policies that give priority to 
those who are about to be released.

New rules created earlier this month should help address these 
problems. The rules give oversight responsibility for prison 
treatment programs to the State Office of Alcoholism and Substance 
Abuse Services, an agency that develops treatment programs and 
licenses treatment providers.

The agency will be required to make sure that prison drug treatments 
are tailored to inmates' needs. It will also monitor the programs, 
filing annual reports to the governor and Legislature. Drug-policy 
advocates hope that the new arrangement will improve treatment and 
provide timely help for addicted inmates. That would be good for 
public health. It could reduce crime, too. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake