Imprisonment or Rehabilitation: Policy and Budget Reforms for the State and Drug Policy

There is now close national and international scrutiny of the effectiveness of traditional legal systems in controlling drug use and related criminality. Fundamentally, the system for people caught with tiny amounts of drugs is a loop of failure.

When a person with an addiction problem or a minor user is arrested, they enter the judicial system and are sent to prison. Months or years later, they walk out on bail or after serving their sentence. But they are not given scientific medical treatment, psychological counseling or rehabilitation in their imprisonment. Without a structure to re-integrate them into society upon release, they inevitably relapse and return to crime.

This revolving door of recidivism places an unsustainable burden on law enforcement and the judiciary, while quietly sucking up a huge chunk of the state’s resources.

1. Cost of Incarceration vs Investment in Rehabilitation

Many believe the cheapest way to protect the public is locking up offenders in jail. But, economically, a closer look paints a very different picture.

Costly Recurring Costs: Each day a convict is housed costs the state money for food, shelter, security and administration. The money spent does not give a long term societal return due to the high rates of recidivism. This means that the money is spent again and again on the same individuals.

A strategic investment: Using the same budget for incarceration on evidence-based medical treatment and rehabilitation changes the recurring expense into a long-term social and economic investment.

2. The Proposed Policy Alternative: 1-Year Mandatory Treatment and Rehabilitation Model

One useful alternative model that can be introduced to resolve this policy bottleneck is:

1-Year Comprehensive Treatment Package: The law should provide for one year in state-run or registered specialist rehabilitation clinics instead of immediate prison sentences for first-time or non-violent criminals caught with small amounts of drugs.

Phased Medical and Vocational Support: The year starts with medically supervised detox and progresses to psychosocial treatment, CBT and practical vocational skills training.

Conditional Accountability: A person who recovers successfully and can return to society might see their criminal record reduced this year. “If they take advantage of the opportunity and bail out or commit another crime they’d be subject to the full weight of regular criminal sentencing.”

3. Expected Social and Administrative Effects

The clear long-run benefits of making this policy move are:

By diverting small drug users to medical rehabilitation, the overcrowding in prisons will be alleviated directly and the enormous pressure in the jail system will be eased.

Breaking the cycle of offending With the right therapy and a chance to gain skills there’s a realistic way out of criminal behavior.

Public health and human rights improvements Substance dependence should be addressed as a health issue, not a criminal issue, which improves public health outcomes and aligns national policy with international human rights standards.

In an effort to preserve national human resources and to ensure the proper use of state revenues, we must move from a purely punitive policy approach to a rehabilitative strategy.