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Article: Question: are drug treatment programs cost-effective? Yes: treatment is more cost-effective than law enforcement.
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- June 12, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The, story Thomas tells is poignant: "I was a full-blown addict by 1987 and started to get into trouble with my family. I kept spending all our money on my drugs. By 1989 I had depleted all of our funds and started to sell my material possessions. I had also started stealing to support my habit.... I was sent to a drug and alcohol treatment program almost two years ago. It has saved my life."
Mary cannot tell her own story. She came from an alcoholic family, began using illicit drugs at age 11, was smoking crack by 15 and first injected heroin at age 17. Mary entered and completed a residential treatment program but still continued to abuse drugs and commit crime. ...