ASAP Hails Governor for Indicating That Addiction Treatment Is Preferable to Incarceration

• by Eric Mower & Associates

ALBANY, NY (01/07/2009)(readMedia)-- Governor David Paterson's call today for state policies that emphasize addiction treatment over incarceration won strong praise from New York's chemical dependency treatment providers.

"Governor Paterson is right twice on this issue. This is the right remedy for New York's addiction treatment needs, and it's a wise prescription for easing New York's fiscal woes - because treatment costs less and works better than imprisonment," said Chris Wilkins, President of the Board of Directors of the New York Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers (ASAP).

The Governor called for additional reform to New York's infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws, noting that modest 2004 reforms "did not go far enough in terms of expanding the availability of drug treatment programs, allowing judges to order low-level offenders into mandatory treatment, and ensuring that prisons are used for the most serious drug offenders."

The Governor also recently proposed closing six under-utilized juvenile justice facilities. This recommendation, coupled with today's call for Rockefeller Drug Law reform, portends a new emphasis on treatment over imprisonment. "By placing juveniles in community-based programs, the state would save nearly $120 million per year," said Richard Pruss, Public Policy Chair for ASAP. "And giving adults treatment instead of a cell can also save taxpayer dollars - because treatment currently costs about $25,000 per person each year. Incarceration, in contrast, costs about $40,000 per year per person."

In the juvenile justice area alone, 78 percent of the children in the system need some sort of chemical dependence treatment, ASAP said. New York State taxpayers spend $100,000 - $200,000 a year per bed in the juvenile justice system-whether the bed is occupied or not. For 70 percent less funding, the same youth could be better served in community-based treatment.

The New York Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, Inc. is a statewide association working on behalf of 300 prevention and treatment providers, and the recovery community in New York State.