Criminal Defense Lawyers

Combating Drugs And Crime

Combating Drugs and Crime: A Comprehensive Guide

Drug abuse and drug-related crime take an enormous toll on individuals, families, and communities across America. The economic cost alone is staggering – over $275 billion each year in health care expenses, lost productivity, crime, and other social impacts. Even more devastating is the human toll, with drugs contributing to more than 130,000 deaths annually.But there is hope. By implementing proven strategies in prevention, treatment, and law enforcement, we can make real progress in reducing the harms of substance abuse and drug-related crime. This guide will walk you through the most effective approaches, with practical tips and real-world examples. Whether you‘re a concerned parent, an educator, a treatment provider, or a law enforcement professional, you’ll find valuable insights to help combat drugs and crime in your community.

Understanding the Problem

Before diving into solutions, it’s important to understand the scope and nature of the drug abuse and crime problem in America:

• An estimated 22 million Americans need treatment for a substance use disorder, but only about 1 in 10 receive the treatment they need.1
• Drug overdose deaths have more than tripled since 1990, driven largely by the opioid epidemic.2 In 2021 alone, over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses.3
• About 1 in 5 state prisoners and 1 in 2 federal inmates are serving time for a drug offense.4 Many more committed crimes to support their drug use.
• The majority of drug arrests are for simple possession, rather than sale or manufacturing.5 This has led to mass incarceration, especially of minorities and the poor, often for low-level, nonviolent offenses.

These statistics paint a grim picture. But they also point to opportunities for targeted interventions that can disrupt the cycle of drug use, crime, arrest, and re-arrest. Let‘s look at what the research shows about effective strategies in prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.

Prevention: Stopping Drug Use Before It Starts

When it comes to reducing drug abuse and crime, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Stopping youth from initiating drug use in the first place is the most cost-effective way to reduce the long-term harms.6What works in prevention? The research points to several key principles:7

1. Start early. Prevention programs are most effective when started in elementary or middle school, before drug use and delinquent behaviors take hold.
2. Focus on risk and protective factors. Effective programs identify and address the underlying factors that make youth vulnerable to drug use, such as lack of parental supervision, drug availability, and early aggressive behavior. They also strengthen protective factors like self-control, academic competence, and anti-drug attitudes.
3. Develop personal and social skills. Teaching life skills such as communication, decision-making, assertiveness, and resisting peer pressure helps youth navigate challenging situations without turning to drugs.
4. Involve the family. Programs that improve parenting skills and family bonding are among the most effective approaches to preventing teen drug use.
5. Use interactive techniques. Engaging, skills-based learning is more effective than just lecturing. Role-playing, group discussions, and cooperative learning help youth practice new skills.
6. Employ a comprehensive strategy. One-time events or isolated programs are not enough. The most successful prevention efforts involve multiple components over time, such as school-based curricula, family programs, media campaigns, and community-wide policies.

Putting these principles into practice, here are some examples of model prevention programs:

• Strengthening Families Program: Helps parents and youth ages 10-14 build positive family relationships and develop skills in setting limits, communicating, managing stress, and resisting peer pressure. Randomized trials have found the program reduces alcohol and drug use, delinquency, and aggression.8
• Life Skills Training: A school-based program for middle school students that teaches personal self-management skills, social skills, and drug resistance skills. Long-term studies show LST cuts tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by up to 75%.9
• Communities That Care: Guides communities to identify risk and protective factors, select evidence-based prevention programs, and implement them with fidelity. A randomized trial found CTC communities had significantly lower rates of smoking, drinking, and delinquency among youth.10

These are just a few examples of the many research-proven prevention programs available. The key is choosing an approach that fits your community‘s needs and implementing it well. For more information on selecting and running effective prevention programs, check out these resources:

• Youth.gov Program Directory
• Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development
• SAMHSA Evidence-Based Practices Resource Center

Treatment: Helping People Overcome Addiction

While prevention is ideal, the reality is that millions of Americans already struggle with substance use disorders. For them, access to quality treatment can be life-saving. But what does effective treatment look like?According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the core principles of effective addiction treatment include:11

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2024-03-18

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2024-03-15

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2024-03-15

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1. Addiction is a complex but treatable disease that affects brain function and behavior. It’s not a moral failing or lack of willpower.
2. No single treatment is right for everyone. The best approach depends on the individual’s drug use, co-occurring mental health issues, and personal circumstances.
3. Treatment should address the whole person, not just drug use. That means attending to medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal needs.
4. Treatment plans should be continually assessed and modified to fit the patient’s changing needs.
5. Remaining in treatment for an adequate period of time is critical. For most, that means at least 3 months.
6. Counseling and behavioral therapies are the most commonly used forms of treatment. Approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management have strong research support.
7. Medications are an important part of treatment for many, especially when combined with behavioral therapies. Methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are effective for opioid addiction, while acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone can help with alcohol use disorder.
8. Treatment doesn’t need to be voluntary to be effective. Sanctions or enticements from family, employers, or the criminal justice system can significantly increase treatment entry and retention.
9. Medically assisted detoxification is only the first stage of treatment. By itself, detox does little to change long-term drug use.
10. Treatment programs should test patients for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. Risk-reduction counseling can help patients avoid or manage these conditions.

Putting these principles into practice, here are some examples of evidence-based treatment approaches:

• Medication-assisted treatment (MAT): Combines FDA-approved medications like methadone or buprenorphine with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat opioid use disorder. Rigorous studies show MAT reduces illicit opioid use, overdose deaths, criminal activity, and infectious disease transmission.12
• Therapeutic communities (TCs): Residential programs that use a hierarchical model with treatment stages reflecting increased levels of personal and social responsibility. TCs differ from other treatment approaches principally in their use of the community as a key agent of change. A systematic review found TCs are effective in reducing drug use and crime, with therapeutic effects sustained over time.13
• Drug courts: Specialized court programs that provide drug offenders with intensive court supervision, mandatory drug testing, substance use disorder treatment, and other support services in lieu of incarceration. A meta-analysis found drug courts significantly reduce crime and drug use compared to traditional criminal justice processing.14