WASTEFUL PRISON POLICY

As a professional in the treatment of drug addicts, I couldn't agree more
with Neal Peirce's Jan. 6 column, "How many (ex-)prisoners is a recession
worth?" on the fallacy of incarcerating people for minor drug law
violations instead of providing them with the treatment they need to break
free of their addictions and become useful members of society.

Not only can we no longer afford the cost of keeping 2 million people in
prison, but history has proved time and time again that simply putting
people in prison seldom works.

A recent study by the University of Delaware, for example, found that 70
percent of those who did not receive adequate treatment were rearrested
within 18 months, as compared to only 29 percent of those who had.

And a follow-up study in California showed that over 75 percent of addicts
who did not participate in a treatment program were back in prison within
three years, as compared to less than 28 percent of those who had.

In addition to the tremendous cost of keeping people in prison, there are
also a number of hidden costs associated with imprisonment, including the
added cost of child welfare and the loss of potential tax revenue.

No, from both an economic and a humanitarian point of view, simply putting
addicted people in prison just doesn't make sense.

Robert R. Bradley Jr.

Chief executive officer

Serenity House

Newport News