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NEW STUDY: CALIFORNIA SAW GREATEST DROP IN DRUG PRISONERS
AMONG LARGE STATE PRISON SYSTEMS
April 13, 2006
SINCE PROP 36, CALIFORNIA DRUG POSSESSION INCARCERATION RATE FALLS 34 PERCENT,JAIL SANCTIONS CARRY RISKS, NOT PROVEN TO ENHANCE TREATMENT SUCCESS
Washington, DC---According to a new report from the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), drug treatment legislation enacted in California was followed by a greater decrease in the number of individuals incarcerated for drug possession and drug charges than any other large state prison system.
According to “Proposition 36: Five Years Later,” researchers found that since 2000, among the nation’s largest prison systems that track those incarcerated for drug offenses, California reduced its drug-possession prison population by the largest number (over 5,400 prisoners). California also experienced the largest numerical decline in the number of drug prisoners of the 10 largest states. Only New York saw a greater percentage drop in the number of those imprisoned for drug crimes.
“Since Proposition 36 came into effect, drug imprisonment in California fell, and this has saved Californian taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Jason Ziedenberg, co-author of the report, and executive director of JPI. “In a state that has struggled with corrections and sentencing reform, Proposition 36 stands out as a successful way to reduce drug imprisonment.”
Another important aspect of the research’s findings was the questionable evidence of jail or incarceration serving as a deterrent to drug use or possession. The California Society of Addiction Medicine has said, “there is no evidence for the efficacy of jail sanctions.” However, the report shows that jail may affect people’s ability to get a job, to stay healthy, and can expose people to higher risks of communicable diseases, and increase jail costs.
Some of the key findings by researchers are:
• The rate of incarceration for drug-possession offenses has gone from 89 per 100,000 California adults in December 2000 to 58 in December 2005—a 34.3 percent decrease.
• While opponents of the initiative warned that Proposition 36 might lead to an increase in violent crime, California’s violent crime rate has declined since 2000 at a rate higher than the national average.
• Since 2000, spending on drug treatment in California doubled.
• Since 2000, California has experienced a larger increase in drug treatment clients than the rest of the country.
• Proposition 36 and drug court completion rates are comparable.
• The effectiveness of using incarceration to prevent drug use and treatment relapse is not conclusive.
• Proposition 36 is saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars.
The JPI study follows a UCLA study showing that Proposition 36 saved California $173 million in its first year of enactment, and $2.50 for every dollar invested in the program. Researchers at JPI, using a different methodology, estimated that 14,000 fewer people were admitted to prison for drug possession due to Proposition 36, and the state saved hundreds of millions of dollars from reduced prison admissions since its enactment.
“The new UCLA report confirms, Proposition 36 is a great investment for the people of California, and we recommend the state consider increasing its investments in the initiative, and divert additional resources away from incarceration and into substance abuse treatment,” says Scott Ehlers, report co-author.
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The Justice Policy Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration and promoting effective and just solutions to social problems. This report was supported by a generous grant the Fund for Nonviolence, and generous donations from people around the country. For more information, visit our website, www.justicepolicy.org