Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population

Abstract

People in the United States, though only five percent of the world's population, consume two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. People in the United States, though only five percent of the world's population, incarcerate 25 percent of the world's prisoners. It is no coincidence that of the 2.3 million inmates in U.S. prisons, 65 percent--1.5 million--meet the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) medical criteria for alcohol or other drug abuse and addiction. Another 20 percent--458,000--even though they don't meet the DSM-IV medical criteria for alcohol and other drug abuse and addiction nevertheless were substance involved; i.e., were under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of their offense, stole money to buy drugs, are substance abusers, violated the alcohol or drug laws, or share some combination of these characteristics. This report, uncovers these troubling facts and, even more disturbingly, finds that the situation has been getting worse since The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University issued its first report on this subject, "Behind Bars", just over a decade ago. This new report constitutes the most exhaustive analysis ever undertaken to identify the extent to which alcohol and other drugs are implicated in the crimes and incarceration of America's prison population. This report, following more than a decade after CASA's initial analysis, finds that despite greater recognition of the problem and potential solutions, this country has allowed the population of substance-involved inmates crowding the prisons and jails--and the related costs and crimes--to increase. This report sets out steps the country can take to reduce crime and the taxpayer costs of prisons by addressing treatment needs of offenders while holding them accountable for their crimes. Appendices include: (1) Data Analysis Methodology; and (2) Proposed Guidelines for Providing Addiction Treatment in Prisons and Jails. (Contains 10 figures, 46 tables, and 456 notes.)