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Of all the statements made at a news conference earlier this week announcing formation of a new statewide initiative to combat the scourge of methamphetamine abuse, this one by Governor Jon Huntsman should ring loudly in the ears of all Utahns:
“You cannot incarcerate your way out of this drug problem.”
Yet, that’s the natural tendency of society – lock ‘em up – especially because so many of them resort to lives of crime to sustain their awful habits. In reality, it isn’t solving the problem. And our jails and prisons are overloaded with non-violent substance abuse offenders. Meth, often, is their drug of choice.
Consider this fact: It costs the state about $27 thousand annually to incarcerate a meth addict, while it costs about $15 thousand each year to place the meth abuser in treatment. And treatment, in a relatively high percentage of cases, is proving to be successful.
KSL welcomes the creation of this 34-member statewide task force, which will promote legislation to fund drug courts along with encouraging support for successful education, prevention and treatment programs.
Task forces, of course, come and go, many of them without resulting in societal improvements. This one will succeed if it can lead to a paradigm shift from incarceration to effective, life-changing treatment.
