The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, examined inmates released from Connecticut prisons. Researchers examined the records of 831 inmates who were released in 1997 and collected data on the inmates for 24 months prior to release and 24 months after their release to measure participation in treatment programs and rearrest rates.

While nearly 46 percent of Connecticut's prison population gets rearrested within the first year after release, only 37.4 percent of inmates who receive basic treatment and 23.5 percent of inmates who receive intensive substance abuse treatment end up in jail again after release.

"If we don't provide the treatment, the same inmate who gets rearrested costs $45,536 to the taxpayer, which is 5.7 times the cost of basic treatment and 1.8 times the cost of intensive treatment," said Donald Shepard, Ph.D., Brandeis University Professor and one of the lead researchers, in a news statement.

Researchers said the findings demonstrate a need to invest in prison-based treatment programs. The study notes that the findings confirm previous research, which showed that untreated drug dependent offenders are likely to return to criminal behavior following release from prison and are responsible for an excessive amount of violent and property crime.

National figures indicate that while 80 percent of prison inmates have serious alcohol or drug problems, only 15 percent receive treatment for their substance abuse problems.

The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.

For more information, visit the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program website.

Reprinted with permission from Coalitions Online.

Take Action: Require effective treatment and continuing, supervised aftercare programs instead of incarceration for non-violent drug and alcohol offenders.

What You Can Do: Take this article to your legislators and ask them to consider treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent offenders, either by supporting drug courts or through new legislation, as was done in Maryland and California. For more information on drug courts, visit our Hot Issues page: www.jointogether.org/sa/issues/hot_issues/drug_courts