Rehabilitate don't incarcrate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Rehabilitate don't incarcrate - Essay Example One reason for the impracticality is that the inclusion of drug users among the prisoners will simply result in overcrowding of prison, which is what the Californian State Prison is going through at this point. However, another impractical reason and one which is actually more important is that people who were jailed for drugs will not really reform drug users: â€Å"Charging those individuals with a felony doesn’t reduce illicit drug use† (Knafo). Putting drug addicts in prison will also not contribute to his own recovery as a drug user. Based on data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, drug treatment studies for drug users in prison often make them reduce relapse, criminality, inmate misconduct, and behavioral disorders (â€Å"Substance Abuse Treatment†). Nevertheless, as long as a drug user is in prison, then he will never be able to have the environment that is conducive for his recovery. This means that as long as the drug user remains incarcerated, his beha vior and conduct and his recovery will always be challenged by his fellow inmates, who can abuse him at anytime. Thus, instead of recovering from the abuse, he will continue to be violent as the prison itself has a plethora of threats and abuses of all kinds. Placing prisoners in rehabilitation programs instead of prisons will hopefully reduce recidivism. In fact, according to Cape Cod Times, this is basically the goal of American Representative Randy Hunt’s current program that favors the rehabilitation of drug users in prisons. The basis for the purpose of reducing recidivism somehow lies in the fact that undergoing treatment, drug testing as well as counseling will definitely take care of the pressing problem of drug addiction sooner than incarcerating the drug user (Barber). This is somehow similar to the idea of taking care of the drug abuse problem more readily so that it can actually be dealt with. Otherwise, the same kind of person will get arrested and jailed sooner or later. Moreover, subjecting the prisoner to the nadir of existence in jail, then common sense will tell us that they will never be able to recover from the drug problem. Furthermore, based on information from the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation, prisoners with drug and alcohol related problems can only possibly recover in a â€Å"therapeutic unit† (Wrobel). As this therapeutic unit may allow leaving the cells open, may allow prisoners to receive outside volunteers or may allow the family of the patient to participate in the therapy as well (Wrobel). Although this can actually appear dangerous, it is an error on the side of kindness. Moreover, what is missing here and what should be known before a drug user is sent for rehabilitation is the idea that the drug user will undergo strict assessment first as well as strict monitoring. Strict assessment means that those who are extremely violent will not be able to walk freely during or may not even be sent for re habilitation in order to reduce risks of causing violence. Moreover, strict monitoring means that throughout every phase of treatment that these drug users have to go through, they are strictly supervised by the police. This means that if the drug user has a history of violence, they he is less likely to participate in any rehabilitation program. Moreover, as long as these are true statements about the benefit of rehabilitation for drug users instead