reposted from The Portland Mercury, 3/4/08
(The program described below is captured in Brian Lindstrom’s film Finding Normal.)
Drug treatment is the hot issue of the moment in Portland, what with Commissioner Randy Leonard selectively promising it to certain people in exchange for committing felonies, and former state rep Kevin Mannix suggesting a November Ballot Measure to simply ship all drug addicts to jail without proper treatment.
Well: New research at PSU shows Central City Concern’s drug mentor program has achieved a 95% reduction in use of any illegal drugs by those going through the program.
Money not spent on drugs equaled $5,729,750 for the duration of the survey, and crimes committed by participants reduced by 93%. Prior to entry 63% had been committing crimes daily.
CCC’s mentor program reaches out specifically to addicts with significant addiction issues, with on average 7.6 years of peak drug use. The stats, obviously, are a good argument for more dollars for drug treatment, and you might want to refer to them next time somebody suggests slashing any budgets.
Policy-makers: Download the full report here.
