Throughout New York, several different correctional facilities are no longer needed. Perhaps they lack certain features, perhaps there are newer, larger facilities built somewhere else in the state. The question is, what, if anything, can these facilities be used for in the future?

Senator Michael Nozzolio (R) Fayette – has an idea. Instead of leaving these facilities vacant or demolishing them altogether, transform them into substance abuse treatment centers. The legislation that Nozzolio introduced to the state senate would require the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services to look into whether it is possible to use these obsolete facilities as drug treatment facilities.

More about the Bill

The bill, S7655A, is just one of many that were introduced by the state’s Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse. The task force has released these proposals after a number of different hearings throughout the state.

Nozzolio – the chair of the Senate Codes Committee – is not merely thinking ideologically either. The reason that he suggests converting these abandoned facilities into treatment options is because the heroin epidemic throughout the country continues to develop. The bill emphasizes that because the issue of heroin addiction throughout the state has reached epidemic proportions, the pre-existing shortage of quality treatment options has increased as well.

The bill recommends that in order to be ready for the upcoming influx of people wanting to seek help for their heroin dependence, it is more necessary than ever before that the substance abuse treatment field deals with its insufficient supply of treatment beds and lack of adequate treatment facilities and programs.

The state has already closed nine different prisons since Governor Andrew Cuomo took office in 2011. There are going to be four more added to that list in July, one of which is Butler Correctional Facility in Wayne County.

According to state officials, closing these four facilities is going to cut an estimated $30 million in expenses on a yearly basis. Despite the fact that the 2014-2015 budgets already included these prison closures, there is a provision attached to make the four soon-to-be-vacant properties tax-free zones.

Why this Matters

One of the reasons that this is a significant step in the right direction is because it shows that certain policymakers are not merely stuck on the antiquated concept of the ‘War on Drugs’. Keep in mind that drug addiction leads to a decline in the user’s health, financial security and their wellbeing, but it does more than that.

Oftentimes these people become a burden to the taxpaying citizens. Those who suggest that throwing someone in jail for a compulsive act that they are unable to control without proper treatment are not benefiting the user, are not benefiting society, they are not benefiting anyone.

Looking at the Facts

A recent study shows that it is possible to save billions of dollars and reduce crime by opting to send prisoners who have substance abuse issues into a treatment program rather than sending them to prison. The savings are because the cost of incarceration is immediately reduced. Moreover, reducing the number of crimes committed by offenders, successfully treating, leads to subsequent savings.

Even though half of all state prisoners are struggling with drug addiction or are actively abusing drugs, less than 10 percent of them receive the necessary drug treatment during their incarceration. Those inmates that are not adequately treated or who go untreated entirely are far more likely to return to using once they leave prison. The study highlights the fact that those released without drug treatment are far more likely to return to prison than those who receive treatment.

The study built a simulation model based on 1.14 million state prisoners. That is the same number that the United States prison population was in 2004. The model estimated the benefits of offering substance abuse programs for the inmates’ lifetime and also calculated the criminal justice costs and crime related costs related to incarceration, trial, sentencing and policing.

The model tracked health care use, employment, criminal activity and substance abuse until these inmates reach the age of 60 or until death, whichever happened to come first. The study did two estimates, one where 40 percent of drug-abusing inmates received treatment, and the other where only 10 percent received treatment.

The numbers were rather shocking. Even if only 10 percent of eligible offenders received treatment instead of being locked up, the researchers found that it could save the criminal justice system $4.8 billion. If the 40 percent plan was adopted, they calculated that the treatment would save a total of $12.9 billion.

Not only would these changes be financially beneficial, but they would also be more beneficial to the users themselves and society as a whole. If we are accepting the fact that people struggling with drug addiction are a financial burden to the average taxpayer, wouldn’t it be logical to go with the option that it is A) economically responsible and B) humane?

Punishment is Sometimes Unavoidable

The truth is that certain people need to be in jail. There are countless people who need to be kept away from society because they pose a danger to others. However, merely locking someone up because they are carrying out criminal acts attributed to drug addiction is not going to do anything unless you address the underlying issue of addiction while putting someone in prison.

Just putting someone in jail only temporarily masks the issue, it would be like putting a Band-Aid over a broken leg – it may look better than doing nothing at all, but in the end, it accomplishes very little. It is a positive sign to see that an increasing number of legislators are starting to understand what has been common knowledge in the drug treatment industry for years now. If you want to help someone better their life, you have to start at the root cause of the problem. Only after addressing that, can you hope to enact lasting change.