Managing the Addicted Offender

By Mary Branham Dusenberry

Prison populations are growing at a time when the fiscal picture in the states is bleak. That growth is cutting into the resources set aside to deal with substance abuse issues.

That creates problems down the line for states, according to speakers at the Interbranch Working Group session, Managing the Addicted Offender, Sunday afternoon. States are taking new approaches to try to deal with the underlying problems for those in the court system because of drug offenses.

“We like any other part of American society have a certain percentage of the population that needs to go away for a very long time because they’re bad people,” said Michael Brown, secretary of Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

But for those people who are in the court system because they committed drug offenses, lengthy tenure in prison isn’t always the answer, Brown and others said.

Drug courts are often the answer, as Alabama and Idaho officials found out after implementing such programs.

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb got a $3.5 million line item for drug courts in her state not long ago. The state is expanding the drug court system after seeing some success.

Efforts to better deal with drug cases include training for judges on the sentencing procedures.

“Judges are the gatekeepers to the most expensive services a state provides,” said Cobb. “It is a matter of changing the sentencing culture.”

But Cobb stressed it takes an interbranch effort to develop and maintain a successful program.

And, said Idaho Chief Justice Daniel Eismann, it’s important to remember addiction is a brain disease. “Drug courts are the most effective way to deal with people who are addicted to illegal substances,” he said.

Those courts, he said, try to learn and deal with the underlying problem for people who are using drugs.

Idaho has seen active participation from community programs such as Twiga Foundation Inc., founded by former Idaho first lady Patricia Kempthorne. She was part of a national policy discussion that offered a series of recommendations to reduce the percentage of residents with drug and alcohol problems.

Those recommendations include sustained leadership for a statewide strategy to prevent and address alcohol and drug problems; a strategy to involve all agencies affected by alcohol and drug problems; state-provided resources to improve alcohol and drug services; a measurement and accountability program for those agencies to ensure they meet outcome measures; updated legislation to control alcohol and drug policies; and sustained state advisory councils to hold elected officials accountable for providing needed leadership.