This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Law and Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic

Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2006;296:1222.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To facilitate effective treatment for drug-addicted offenders, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has created a research-based guide for individuals and organizations that work with incarcerated individuals.

Drug abuse and addiction are common in this population—about 70% of individuals in state prisons and local jails have abused drugs regularly, according to NIDA estimates. Left untreated, those affected may be mired in a cycle of incarceration, release, relapse, and re-arrest.

Drug treatment, however, can stop this cycle, reducing the use of drugs among these individuals by half, reducing criminal activity by 80%, and reducing new arrests by 64%, according to NIDA. It is also a good investment—for every dollar spent on treatment there is a $4 to $7 return in reduced costs associated with drug-related crimes.

The guide, Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations, offers 13 principles for treatment:

• Drug addiction is a . . . [Full Text of this Article]