Santa Fe leaders should think more broadly about how to deal with the property crime and drug issues facing our city. We all want Santa Fe to be a healthy and safe community, but we can't arrest our way out of problems associated with substance abuse.

Nationally, an estimated one-third of local and state inmates who committed property crimes did so to obtain money for drugs.

Public safety strategies that focus solely on street-level transactions don't get at a real issue in Santa Fe: untreated addiction. Without adequate access to substance abuse treatment, we're never going to prevent property crime. If we truly want to promote health and safety in our communities, we must focus on access to substance abuse treatment services rather than arresting and incarcerating people with addictions.

What does "adequate access to treatment" mean?

Treatment-on-demand means that anyone who seeks help with an addiction to alcohol or other drugs is immediately assessed for the proper level of care, and receives that care, without being placed on a waiting list. We are far from this ideal system in Santa Fe.

A 2005 report ranks Santa Fe County 18th of 33 New Mexico counties for drug and alcohol treatment admission rates. We continue to fund an approach that pays to house 700 people each day in the Santa Fe County Jail, while only providing 21 inpatient and some outpatient treatment slots for people to overcome their addictions.

Several New Mexico communities, including Farmington, have already taken practical steps in reducing drug-related crime by investing in treatment services and programs for people with addictions. In order to adequately address drug-related crime, Santa Fe should follow the lead of other communities in our state and invest in real rehabilitation for people with addictions by increasing access to substance abuse treatment services.

Treatment rather than jail time would enhance public safety by reducing drug-related crime and also preserve jail and prison space for violent offenders.

The cost of probation and treatment is much less than the cost of incarceration. It costs more than $30,000 to incarcerate someone for one year and about $5,000 a year to provide someone with substance abuse treatment.

Success in combating drug-related crime and drug addiction should not be measured in arrest rates, but rather the number of individuals successfully completing evidence-based treatment programs, and the comparative costs of punitive versus rehabilitative policies.

Promoting effective substance abuse treatment for people struggling with addiction — instead of incarceration — is a practical and cost-effective approach for improving the lives of Santa Feans that will truly make our community safer.

Julie Roberts and Reena Szczepanski are with the Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico in Santa Fe.