War on Drugs

Methamphetamine production and use is a huge problem in rural America. Yet, when we think of the war on drugs, it is usually with cocaine, marijauna, and heroin in mind. But the single biggest drug probelm we have in Wisconsin is the spread, or potential spread, of meth. So how do you combat it?

First, consider this question and answer submitted to U.S. Rep Gwen Moore (D-WIS.) through a question and answer forum at the website, Rawstory.

As a Wisconsin resident, I am especially curious to your stand on the War on Drugs and its effects on our society. Do you feel that with the way the drug war has been executed that it has done anything to help clean the streets of drugs? Do you feel the it is hypocritical that alcohol and tobacco are legally available yet marijuana is not?

Justin, Elkhorn, WI

Thanks--you raise a good question about the approach that’s been taken and whether it is the most effective. In the past, we have put more dollars toward jail and incarceration than we have toward treatment and toward better access to education, which we know do more to reduce recidivism and re-incarceration. As a result, we have more people who need treatment than we have funding or slots available. And instead of ensuring the educational opportunities for low-income Americans that we know could give them a better chance at a productive, drug-free life, we increase funding for the system that will lock them up when they’re caught with drugs.

Here’s an example of how treatment is more effective and more efficient than imprisonment: in 1996, the citizens of Arizona voted in favor of Proposition 200, the Drug Medicalization Prevention and Control Act of 1996, which sends first and second time non-violent drug offenders to treatment rather than incarceration. According to a report conducted by the Supreme Court of Arizona, Proposition 200 saved Arizona taxpayers over $11 million in 2005. In addition, over half (56 percent) of the probationers successfully completed the drug treatment ordered by the court. (http://www.supreme.state.az.us/apsd/dtef/2005%20DTEF%20Report%20Card.pdf)

Also, the 1994 California Drug and Alcohol Treatment Assessment General Report found that every dollar spent on addiction treatment saves taxpayers more than $7 in medical and social costs. (http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol10N2/CAStudy.html) Treatment and education are a crucial part of the solution in the so-called war on drugs. An emphasis on prison only which ignores or de-emphasizes the need for well-funded treatment and educational access means we’ll just be fighting a losing battle.

A recent study was done by Justice Strategies at the request of a couple of state legislators. And the results were interesting.
http://www.justicestrategies.net/States/WI_Jan_06_Report.htm

It found that in Wisconsin, almost 3,000 non-violent drug offenders are in prison, and needing drug treatment.

Wisconsin is spending $83 million dollars a year to keep non-violent drug offenders in prison.

Almost $29,000 is spent per prisoner, per year, while a drug treatment program would cost about $8000 per year, with a better chance at preventing a relapse. You do the math.

Make no mistake about it, if you are a violent drug addict I want you doing hard time! If you are a maker of meth, you are endangering our community and our environment and you should do hard time!

But when it comes to non-violent drug users, let's look at saving money, rehabilitate them, and make them productive members of society.

The answer to everything is not more prisons.