DRUG TREATMENT IS FAR CHEAPER THAT PRISON

The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities may curry
favor with the Taft administration by not supporting the ballot initiative
requiring treatment instead of jail for first- and second- time drug
offenders (Plain Dealer, May 29). But its decision will not change the fact
that Ohio's jails, courts and prisons are stressed to capacity by the
criminal prosecution and harsh sentencing of nonviolent, low-level drug
abusers.

Many of these people are sentenced to prison without benefit of
substance-abuse treatment. Even when a judge orders treatment, programs are
scarce and not available on demand. The minimum average wait for
substance-abuse treatment for inmates at the Cuyahoga County Corrections
Center is four to six weeks after sentencing. For inmates who have
substance abuse problems and psychiatric illnesses, the wait is often longer.

If Gov. Bob Taft is concerned about the state's tight budget, he may want
to review the estimates of the costs of incarceration versus treatment. The
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Web site lists the annual
average cost per inmate as $22,045. In 1998, the Physician Leadership on
National Drug Policy estimated that annual individual treatment costs
ranged from $1,800 for traditional outpatient treatment to $6,800 a year
for residential drug treatment. Even if these costs had doubled in the past
four years, treatment would be far less expensive than incarceration.

The proposed ballot initiative to amend the Ohio Constitution may not
provide sufficient legislative or judicial flexibility. But it is a way for
voters to tell Taft that they are tired of spending tax dollars on the
incarceration of nonviolent substance abusers and want more treatment
options in their communities.

Kathleen J. Farkas

Cleveland