Why Is Rehabilitation Better Than Prison

Research has found that suffering from an addiction is punishment enough, sending drug addicts to jail is not the solution. Kristin Mitchell states, “ 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs, but only 11 percent of those with an addiction are receiving treatment. The United States sends more people to prison for drug charges than any other country in the world. Out-of-prison rehabilitation and treatment for drug offenders provides better results than imprisonment. Providing treatment outside jail is more cost-effective.It costs about $2,000 to $7,000 per person.The average cost of putting someone in the program is $32,974, compared to the $64,338 needed to send him or her to prison for 25 months, or the average prison sentence for drug offenders.” What Kristin Mitchell really means is that drug addiction already is a punishment. Being addicted is enough, because not many understand what all the addicts have to go through. Some don’t even have a roof over their heads at night. How can they say that their lives are not that big of a deal, if you haven’t been in their shoes? Addicts should be treated in rehabilitation centers not prisons because these centers are more cost effective, they offer a more realistic environment and they have results than the prison treatment programs.
Rehab has their doors open 24 hours and anyone can walk out whenever they want to. In prison well, nobody can’t leave so they have to get the treatment while they are in prison. The better way of keeping drug addicts away from our country is getting rid of all those drugs. That’s one way we can help this world be a better place. Their addiction, however, will never go away unless you actually try to be a better