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NY Times Editorial: Addiction Behind Bars

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

NY Times Editorial Addiction Behind Bars Published: April 12, 2009 The United States must do more to curb the spread of diseases like AIDS and hepatitis C in prison, where infection rates are high and inmates can easily spread disease through unprotected sex or by sharing needles. Drug treatment in prison is clearly part of the solution. But by some estimates, fewer than one in five inmates who need formal treatment are actually getting it. That?s alarming, given that about half the prison population suffers from drug abuse or dependency problems. Addicted prisoners cause problems outside the walls. After they?re freed, addicts with H.I.V. or AIDS can infect spouses and lovers. They feed their addictions by returning to crime, which lands them back in prison and starts the terrible cycle over again...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on April 13, 2009 (boomark / email).