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.
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