Stay Informed

Sign up for news & alerts

Already signed up?
Login here

take action
For every $1 states spend dollar sign on substance misuse and addiction, 94 cents go to shovel up the consequences instead of for treatment and prevention. TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS

What Can I Do?



Continuing Education
Free online courses for addiction counselors LEARN ONLINE

Get Help
Need alcohol or drug help for yourself or someone else? GET HELP

 
Study: Drug Courts Pay Off
March 12, 2004

Share Share Email
Email
Print
Print
SubscribeSubscribe
Research Summary

A St. Louis study finds that drug courts and addiction treatment are far more cost-effective than probation over the long run, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly reported March 8.

The study by the Institute of Applied Research focused on the city's adult felony drug court. Researchers concluded that drug court costs about $1,449 per offender more up front than probation, but end up saving taxpayers $7,707 within four years of discharge.

"The drug-court client pays for his drug-court experience within about 3.5 years by avoiding costs [such as reinvolvement with the criminal-justice system] and paying taxes," said Jeffrey N. Kushner, the city's drug-court administrator.

The complete report is available on the Institute of Applied Research website.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:
(Comments now appear first to last)

Your Turn! Post a public comment (guidelines):

Name:

Comment:
(limit 250
words)
Enter this word
(help):		 Change

GUIDELINES: 
To keep this feature useful for everyone, please:

  1. Keep it clean, courteous, brief, and on-topic. Comments are for discussion of the above article, not general rants or manifestos. Serial comments intended to circumvent the 250-word limit may be deleted.

  2. Do not post promotional web links, personal information or requests for assistance (get help).

  3. Proof your comments carefully, use good spelling and punctuation, and don't use ALL CAPS. Comments are published immediately and cannot be edited.

Deceptive, slanderous and commercial posts are prohibited. We reserve the right to remove comments. (Report a comment).

Have questions or feedback? Contact us.