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Running Head: Rehab or Punishment 2 <br />Rehab or P- t-mishn,ent for Drug Offences; What Works Best? <br />What is the best way to handle drug offences today? To help or hold captive? There are <br />many different views on what is the best plan of action for cases such as these. The war on drugs <br />is a constant battle that has added to the overcrowding of today's jails and prisons. There may be <br />another option that can benefit not only the offender, but relieve some of the stress on the <br />correctional system. Court ordered drug treatment or rehab is gaining interest among the courts <br />because it can help to eliminate the offender's cause of criminal activity by providing the support <br />needed to deal with the offender's drug issues. <br />The single largest conviction category among prisoners, according to the Department of <br />Corrections, is drug abuse, McVay, D., Schiraldi, V., Ziedenberg, J. (2004). Because not all the <br />offenders receive treatment while incarcerated, the courts have shown interest in court ordered <br />drug treatment in lieu of a jail or prison sentence. There are many benefits along with concerns <br />over this type of sentencing. It becomes an expensive, time consuming and repeat cycle to have <br />the drug offender appear in court, sentenced to jail, and after release, ending right back up in <br />court for a similar offence, Clay, R. A., (2006). Breaking this cycle along with the economic <br />benefits can have lasting affects for both offender and the correctional system. <br />According to the University of Delaware's Health Services Policy Research Group, the <br />state's cost comparison of a housed inmate at $30,000 a year compared to $5,000 a year per <br />offender to provide treatment services can provide relief to budgets and taxpayers, Deiner, P. L., <br />(2010). The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found <br />that the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program in Brooklyn, New York achieved <br />significant results in reducing recidivism and drug use, increased the likelihood of finding <br />