Diverting recently released state prison offenders who abuse substances to treatment would reduce crime and save billions.

Nearly one third of state prison inmates use drugs at the time of their offense, and more than half show signs of drug dependence or abuse. In new research which models substance abuse and crime as people move in and out of the prison system Gary A. Zarkin and Alexander J. Cowell examine the lifetime costs and benefits of diverting non-violent substance abusers from prison to community-based treatment. They find that those who complete community-based treatment commit fewer crimes by the end of the first year of the program, and that as a whole the program could save more than $14 billion for the criminal justice system and have lifetime social benefits of $25 billion.