Recovery Resources Cleveland
(216) 431-4131
www.recres.org
3950 Chester Avenue
Cleveland OH 44114

Rehab and Insurance Services

Substance abuse treatment services
Services Provided: Substance abuse treatment
Type of Care: Outpatient

Drug Addiction Treatment Effectiveness

In addition to stopping drug abuse, treating drug addicts aims to return the user to productive life by functioning in the family, workplace and community. Some research that followed individuals in treatment over extended periods showed that most people who get into and remain in treatment stop using drugs, exhibit a decrease in criminal activity and improve occupational, social and psychological functioning. For example, studies show that methadone treatment increases participation in behavioral therapy and decreases both drug use and criminal behavior. However, individual treatment outcomes depend on the extent and nature of the problems of the patient, the appropriateness of treatment and related services doctors use to address those problems and the quality of interaction between the patient and the treatment providers. Relapse rates for addiction resemble those of other chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Like other chronic conditions, drug addicts can learn to manage the issue successfully. Treatment enables a person to counteract the powerful disruptive effects that addiction has on brain and behavior in order to regain control. The chronic nature of addiction means that relapsing and using drugs is not only possible, but also likely. The rates of drug relapse are similar to those of other chronic medical illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Unfortunately, when relapse occurs many people consider treatment a failure. However, successful treatment for addiction often requires continual evaluation and modification as appropriate. For example, when a patient receives active treatment for hypertension and symptoms decrease, doctors consider the treatment successful, even though symptoms may reappear when the patient stops treatment. For the addicted patient, lapses to drug abuse do not indicate failure, but rather signify that doctors need to reinstate, adjust or alter treatment.

Drug Abuse Crime Connection

It is easy to see the connection between drug abuse and crime. Drug abuse is criminal in the following ways: drug possession or sales; to drug abuse e.g., stealing to get money for drugs; and a drug abuse lifestyle that predisposes the drug abuser to engage in illegal activity, like associating with other offenders or dealing in illicit markets. Individuals who use illicit drugs are more likely to commit crimes and it is common for individuals who had used drugs or alcohol to commit many offenses, including violent crimes.
After a nationally representative survey of state correctional agencies in 2005, Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ–DATS) investigators estimated that nearly 8 million adults were involved in the justice system (Taxman, Young, Wiersema, et al., 2007). Almost 5 million individuals are on probation or under parole supervision (Glaze and Bonczar, 2006; Taxman, Young, Wiersema, et al., 2007), with drug law violators accounting for the largest percentage of these parolees. The substance abuse or dependence rates of offenders are more than four times that of the general population (National Institute of Justice, 2003; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). In a 2004 survey, the Bureau of Justice Statistics BJS estimated that about 53 percent of state and 45 percent of federal prisoners met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for drug abuse or dependence (Mumola and Karberg, 2006). Of those surveyed, 14.8 percent of state and 17.4 percent of federal prisoners reported having drug treatment since admission (Mumola and Karberg, 2006). Juvenile justice systems also report high levels of drug abuse. A survey of juvenile detainees in 2000 found that about 56 percent of the boys and 40 percent of the girls tested positive for drug use at the time of arrest (National Institute of Justice, 2003).
Although there has been an increased interest in providing substance abuse treatment services for criminal justice offenders, in the last decade, only a small percentage of offenders have access to adequate services, especially in jails and community correctional facilities (Taxman, Perdoni and Harrison, 2007). Not only is there a gap in the availability of these services for offenders, but often there are few choices in the types of services provided. Treatment is of insufficient quality and intensity or is not well suited to the needs of offenders and may not yield meaningful reductions in drug use and recidivism. Untreated substance abusing offenders are more likely to relapse to drug abuse and return to criminal behavior than treated offenders. Relapse can bring about re-arrest and re-incarceration, jeopardizing public health and public safety and taxing criminal justice system resources. Treatment offers the best alternative for interrupting the drug abuse/criminal justice cycle for offenders with drug abuse problems.
Drug abuse treatment can be incorporated into criminal justice settings in a variety of ways. These include treatment as a condition of probation; drug courts that blend judicial monitoring and sanctions with treatment; treatment in prison followed by community-based treatment after release; and treatment under parole or probation supervision. Actual drug abuse treatment efficiency can benefit from the cross-agency coordination and collaboration of criminal justice professionals, substance abuse treatment providers and other social service agencies. By working together, the criminal justice and treatment systems can optimize resources to benefit the health, safety and wellbeing of the individuals and communities they serve.