Drug Rehab vs. incarceration is examined in California’s Proposition 5. In California as in the rest of the country we continue to struggle financially. The search to cut costs may have a profound affect on how we as a country address the growing population of drug addicts in prisons. A one time savings of 2.5 Billion will be realized in California if Proposition 5 is passed. Nonviolent offenders in drug related cases would have the option of entering addiction treatment rather than incarceration. This would significantly lower the prison population averting the cost of new prison construction. Cutting costs in the state budget is not the primary concern of this proposition but it is probably a useful argument in the current financial atmosphere.

Offering Addiction Treatment to drug offenders is certainly not a new idea. Prior to legislation that dictated longer prison sentences and stricter drug laws the consensus among addiction professionals was that addicts needed treatment not prison. The outcry in our country, that something had to be done about the rising drug problem and crimes associated with drug abuse allowed elected officials to implement the laws that are in affect today. State and federal funds were switched from social agencies to prisons and the inmate population swelled to what it is today.

It appears we have come full circle and addicts that find their way into our drug courts will have the opportunity to attend drug rehab centers. The implementation of an adequate screening process would be a good start to a new system. There are those that deserve to be behind bars and those that will benefit from drug abuse treatment. As the pendulum swings in the direction of rehabilitation something has to change or the opponents will once again climb on their judicial platform.