Running head: Drugs & CJS 1

Drugs and Alcohol and the Recidivism Rate

Within the Criminal Justice System
Stephanie Jones
Arkansas Tech University
DRUGS & CJS 2

Introduction
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2002 two-thirds of jailed inmates suffered

from drug or alcohol abuse problems. The domino effect of drugs and alcohol with the Criminal

Justice System can be seen with staggering numbers of 2.3 million Americans and 1 out of 5 is

due to drugs (Prison Policy, 2016). Drug and alcohol use can lead to a higher rate of criminal

activity, lower mental health capacity, and higher rate of illnesses creating a domino effect. With

the prisons and jails being overcrowded, the spotlight on this abuse has created more research on

how to help lower the recidivism rate so the question here is: Can proper drug and alcohol

rehabilitation help the recidivism rate within the Criminal Justice System?

Literature Review

The purpose of this Literature Review is to look at the current trend with drug and alcohol abuse

and the recidivism rate within the Criminal Justice System. The review covers topics such as:

history of the war on drugs, the rates in which drugs and alcohol play a role in incarceration,

mental health complications, treatments that are offered while incarcerated, and the amount of

success/failure rate with these treatments while also offering possible solutions to lower the rate

of recidivism. The literature was pulled from peer reviewed articles in the ATU library and also

the United States Department of Justice. The search criteria used was drugs and alcohol within

the CJS and also recidivism rates with drug and alcohol abuse.
DRUGS & CJS 3

History of Drugs

In the United States drug and alcohol addiction has become a major problem since the War on

Drugs which dates back as early as the 1800s with opium. In the more recent times though, the

war against drugs geared up with the Nixon administration, followed by Reagan in 1981. In the

get tough on drugs act, Reagan doubled his budget to fight drugs reaching $1.4 billion during his

first term while his funding for prevention and education measures were cut by $26 million

dollars. When Clinton took office he increased the budget for drugs but still the increase was

higher in the supply side versus the education and prevention side.

Facts on Incarceration Rates

Addiction is the defined as the act of being dependent on a particular substance, activity, or

thing. As of February 2017 46% of incarcerations in prisons were due to drug related offenses.

Also, according to the National Council and Drug Dependence, 80% of offenders use drugs

and/or alcohol and half of those are addicted. Here are some additional facts on drug trafficking

from the United States Sentencing Commission 2015: the highest rate of drug type offenses were

for meth at 31%, while 85% of offenders were male, with the average age being 35 years old, a

staggering 48% had little or no prior criminal history and they also served on average 5.5 years

in prison. The average annual cost per prison inmate was over 30,000 dollars a year, so with an

average prison sentence of 5.5 years that total cost equals to approximately 165,000 dollars on

the tax payers per inmate (Annual Determination of Average Cost of Incarceration, 2016). In

a longitudinal study, the recidivism rate among drug related offenses was 67% within three years

(Belenko, Foltz, Lang & Sung, 2004).

DRUGS & CJS 4

Health

The age old question, which come first the chicken or the egg could be used as it relates to the

amount of drug use. The plausible question could ask if mental illness and physical health

problems adds to the current issue with drug usage and increase in incarcerations. If so, then is

incarceration really the answer for those who are seeking relief from mental and physical health

problems. In a study on mental illness, drug abuse, and incarceration studies found that there

were higher rates of drug abuse in those currently incarcerated with a mental illness than in those

without it. The Bureau of Justice statistics found those in prison with mental illness had 74%

rate of drug use and those in jail had 76% versus the 50% without a mental illness. There also

was a correlation for these inmates to have had higher rates of exposure to abuse physically and

sexually as a child and also to have had at least one family member in the home that abused

drugs and/or alcohol. There is no question that drugs are illegal but there are obviously more

factors than recreation that play a part in using drugs.

Solutions

Treatments

While there are treatment programs in prisons that make use of behavioral, cognitive, and

pharmaceutical therapies for inmates addicted to drugs or alcohol those that receive treatment

only make up a small proportion. Over 50% of those incarcerated are due to drug related offenses

but only 20% receive rehabilitation services ((Karberg & James 2005; Mumola & Karberg

2006).

Inmates have access to education and prevention programs, medications such as methadone,

and also re-entry programs to reduce the likelihood of repeat behaviors. Residential Treatment
DRUGS & CJS 5

programs have had some success for inmates and showed a lower misconduct rate and recidivism

rate upon release.

Decriminalizing Drugs

Another debate on the War against Drugs and rate of incarceration is the decriminalization of

drugs. The definition of decriminalize is to cease by legislation to treat something as illegal.

Many have proposed the decriminalization of drugs so that drug addicts get treatment and not

punishment. Decriminalization of drugs makes it where the addict is not the focus of punishment

although dealing and selling is still illegal. Although this is still a very heated debate some

countries have done just that. Portugal faced heavy drug abuse and decided to shift towards

decriminalization and now when a user is caught with drugs they are sent before a panel and

either released or ordered to treatment. Generally the only time a user is sent to serve time is

upon refusal to participate in their recovery treatment plan. The shift was turned from criminal to

administrative polices and relies heavily upon community programs and involvement. Since

Portugal started this they have seen a reduction in: overdose deaths down by 72%, spread of HIV

94%, 19% reduction in drug related offenders incarcerated, and although drug usage increased at

first it later declined by 27% (Drugpolicy.org).

Conclusion

Although there is no correct answer for how we eliminate the recidivism rate in the United

States, there are multistep approaches in the attempt to reduce these rates. The offender must

want treatment, have access to it, and also have the skills in place to not return to the same habits

as before incarceration. The underlying contribution to drug abuse must be addressed and

challenged. There are no quick fixes, just as there is no absolute answer on what is the best
DRUGS & CJS 6

approach to change but without new policies and solutions then the recidivism rate will stay the

same and within three years the offenders are more apt to be back in the system.
DRUGS & CJS 7

References

Annual Determination of Average Cost of Incarceration. Retrieved from:

www.federalregister.gov

Belenko, S., Foltz, C., Lang, M. A., & Sung, H. (2004). Recidivism Among High- Risk Drug

Felons: A Longitudinal Analysis Following Residential Treatment. Journal Of Offender

Rehabiliation, 40(12), 105-132. Doi: 10.1300/JO76v40n01-06

Ducharme, L. J., Chandler, R. K., & Wiley, T. R. (2013). Implementing drug abuse treatment

services in criminal justice settings: Introduction to the CJ-DATS study protocol

series. Health & Justice, 1(1), 1-6. doi:http://libcatalog.atu.edu:2097/10.1186/2194-7899-

1-5

Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved from:

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp

Karberg, JC, & James, DJ. (2005). Substance Dependence, Abuse and Treatment of

Jail Inmates, 2002. Washington DC: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of

Justice Statistics

Mental Health Problems of Jail Inmates, (2006). Retrieved from:

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf

The United States War on Drugs. Retrieved from:

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/paradox/htele.html
DRUGS & CJS 8

Wagner & Raybuy, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie. Retrieved from:

www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2016.html