WE'VE SEEN IT: DRUG TREATMENT BEATS INCARCERATION

As the Texas Legislature prepares to debate sentencing reform, legislators
will also be confronted with a recent Justice Policy Institute study that
shows that Texas' prison population may increase substantially in the near
future. As the heads of two of Houston's best-known community-based
organizations, we know firsthand that the best line of defense against an
increase in drug-related crime is not more incarceration but more access to
treatment, especially for low-level, nonviolent offenders.

After 20 years of running substance abuse prevention and treatment
facilities, we know that treatment works. Numerous people suffering from
drug addiction in our community follow this path and recover from addiction
by finding the strength in substance abuse treatment programs that allow
them to successfully return to their neighborhoods, improve their lives,
and contribute as much as possible to their families and communities.

It is particularly troubling, then, that treatment alternatives are not
available to all who need them.

The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, or TCADA, reports that in
the year 2000, there were approximately 2.8 million Texans in need of
treatment for a substance abuse problem. TCADA-funded treatment programs
served just over 1 percent of these individuals.

TCADA identifies that 43 percent of adults and 82 percent of adolescents
receiving treatment through its programs have been involved with the
criminal justice system or legal system. State jails and prisons are filled
with low-level, nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems. One out
of five people imprisoned in Texas is incarcerated for a drug offense, yet
we are not focused on treating this population. Additionally, though drug
use does not vary significantly by race or ethnicity, Latino drug offenders
in need of substance abuse treatment often face added barriers such as
language accessibility and cultural competence.

Treating this low-level, nonviolent offender population is not only
invaluable for those who suffer from addiction but also for all of us as a
society, because it is cost effective and tough on crime. According to a
cost-benefit analysis done by Steward Research Group Inc., the total cost
of treatment programs to the state of Texas is $52 million, but the total
benefit to Texas taxpayers in terms of reduction in incarceration costs and
reduced health costs, increased earnings and reduction in crime-related
costs is $236 million.

Treatment also helps reduce crime. Recidivism rates are lower for those who
go through substance abuse treatment than for those who go to prison.
Lastly, community-based organizations that provide treatment and prevention
services guarantee faster recovery and family reunification. The family is
a better support system for drug offenders than prison.

Reducing reliance on incarceration and increasing access to treatment is
cost-effective, humane and a fiscally responsible answer to crime. Every
day, we see how substance abuse treatment works for people and allows them
to turn their lives around, including people who now work for our
organizations. We need to be sure that those who need treatment get it
because at the end of the day it benefits all of us. We urge legislators to
recognize the strong connection between treatment and crime reduction and
support greater access to treatment programs for low-level, nonviolent drug
offenders.

Moreno is president and chief executive officer of the Association for the
Advancement for Mexican Americans Inc., and Farias is president and CEO of
the Tejano Center for Community Concerns. They will be part of a coalition
of civil rights, community and health organizations that will rally in
Houston on Saturday in support of drug treatment programs.