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The Role Of Overcrowding In Prisons

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The Role Of Overcrowding In Prisons
From the mid-1980s drug offenses increased primarily due to the pressure put on by the war on drugs (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). This has contributed to overcrowding of prisons across America. In order to ease the overcrowding in prisons, rehabilitation through court sentenced drug treatment programs is a practical and economical alternative. Assigning offenders to applicable drug treatment programs would decrease overcrowding caused by drug offenses, lower recidivism rates, and provide savings for the criminal justice system. By placing drug offenders in a treatment program, prisons would see some relief from overcrowding. As a result of the war on drugs, arrests for drug-related offenses account for the single largest category of police

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