Jail or Drug Rehab?

With the legalization of marijuana, changing drug laws, and a desire to reduce overcrowding in prisons, courts are now giving out fewer prison sentences and more orders for offenders to attend drug rehab for drug-related charges. In a recent study performed by Pew Research Center, it was reported that two-thirds of Americans would prefer to see illegal drug offenders seek rehabilitation than go to jail. Americans have always wanted drug abuse to be seen as a serious problem — however, their views on how the issue should be handled has changed.

Seeking Treatment Instead of Jail

Traditionally, it has been difficult to receive treatment from drug rehab rather than serve a sentence in jail. Depending on the jurisdiction, there are usually three things that could happen in order to avoid jail and go to rehab instead.

First, the judge may sentence the offender to some form of addiction recovery treatment as part of the sentence. The second way would be to have a lawyer work out a deal with the prosecutor to complete a certain amount of rehab as part of the sentence. Lastly, the addict could appear in drug court instead of adult criminal court.

The Shift

Drug addiction is now becoming widely acknowledged as a mental disorder and less as a criminal action. Recently, the U.S. Sentencing Commissioner proposed to decrease the sentences for federal nonviolent drug crimes by reducing the sentence by 11 months. Not only would this provide drug addicts the opportunity to seek treatment in rehab, but it would also cut the cost of incarceration for all Americans and reduce the chances of overcrowding prisons.

With this shift, more drug abusers will be seen as people with an issue of the brain rather than criminals. After all, these individuals would be better served receiving treatment from medical professionals rather than starring at a blank wall while living out a lengthy sentence.

Leah Ferguson is a health writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Odyssey House. Follow on Twitter