Bethany Russell

People who are arrested for drug related crimes shouldnt be thrown into prison. They

should be put into a rehabilitation facility thats designed to help people with drug addictions.

Forcing them into prisons doesnt help them get better; it only makes things worse.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world (Exum). Because of this,

prisons have become overcrowded, which leads to people being out on probation who probably

shouldnt be. Lawmakers have thought of multiple ideas to fix this issue, whether its from

building more prisons to increase bed space or to giving nonviolent prisoners a shorter sentence.

However, neither of those options help the prisoners in the long run.

Putting inmates who are in prison for drug related crimes into a rehabilitation facility

would help fix a multitude of issues, one of which being the overcrowding one. In 2005, over

450,000 inmates were in prison because of drug related instances (Exum). If given the

opportunity, a majority of those inmates could make a better life for themselves through a

rehabilitation facility or other programs. For instance, a man named Jim Guerra used to do and

sell cocaine in Florida. However after being robbed and kidnapped, he decided that he didnt

want to be in that life anymore (Lacayo). After paying a $15,000 fine and going through years of

community service, hes a free man. He moved to Texas to start a new life, and he continued to

stay with the program he volunteered at for community service. Thousands of people would be

taken out of the already overpopulated prisons to have the opportunity to better themselves.

Another issue it would help resolve would be the issue of drug related crimes in general.

Those people would be receiving the actual help that they need rather than just sitting in a cell,

counting down the days on the calendar to when they could possibly be free. The rate of drug
usage in prison continues to go up as policy changes have criminalized it (Cooper). Therefore,

its safer for the people convicted of drug charges to not be in prison, where their addiction

would most likely grow stronger. They wouldnt be released back onto the streets as a drug

dealer or an addict; they would have had counseling and would have, hopefully, broken their

addictions.
 Works Cited

Cooper, D. T. 2017. Drug Use among Inmates. The Encyclopedia of Corrections. 17.

Exum, Jelani Jefferson. "Sentencing, Drugs, and Prisons: A Lesson from Ohio." University of

Toledo Law Review, vol. 42, no. 4, Summer2011, pp. 881-889. EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.iiiserver.ualr.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgh&AN=67741644

&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Lacayo, Richard, et al. "Considering the Alternatives Crowded Prisons Spark Less Confining

Punishments." Time, vol. 129, no. 5, 02 Feb. 1987, p. 60. EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.iiiserver.ualr.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mih&AN=57890427

&site=eds-live&scope=site.