Criminal Justice and Drug Abuse | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Criminal Justice and Drug Abuse | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Criminal Justice and Drug Abuse

Brief Description

Scientific research since the mid-1970s shows that drug abuse treatment can help many drug abusing offenders change their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors towards drug abuse, avoid relapse, and successfully remove themselves from a life of substance abuse and crime. It is true that legal pressure might be needed to get a person into treatment and help them stay there. Once in a treatment program, however, even those who are not motivated to change at first can eventually become engaged in a continuing treatment process. Learn more

Featured Publications

Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations - A Research-Based Guide

Published September 2006. Revised January 2012.
Presents research-based principles of addiction treatment that can inform drug treatment programs and services in the criminal justice setting.

Treating Offenders with Drug Problems: Integrating Public Health and Public Safety (Topics in Brief)

Revised May 2011.
Examines the extent of drug abuse among people within the criminal justice system and the continuum of treatment necessary to decrease future drug abuse as well as criminal behavior.

Treatment for Drug Abusers in the Criminal Justice System (DrugFacts)

Revised July 2006.
Discusses the extent of drug abuse and addiction among criminal offenders and treatment approaches that emphasize 13 principles proven to help criminal justice systems tailor treatment programs. En Español

Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: What Works with Offenders

Published July 2006. 
Provides an overview of drug abuse treatment principles derived from research findings in the areas of criminology and drug abuse treatment.

View more related publications

Related NIDA Notes Articles

• Study: Treat Jail Detainees’ Drug Abuse To Lower HIV Transmission(March 2014)
• California Reaped Large Savings by Diverting Drug-Using Offenders Into Treatment (February 2014)
• After Release, Jail Inmates’ Substance Use Patterns Relate to Their Choice of Friends (July 2013)

View more related NIDA Notes

Related Resources

• Treating Drug Addiction: What Families and Offenders Need to Know
• Photos from press event for release of Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations publication
• An Examination of Drug Treatment Programs Needed to Ensure Successful Re-entry (Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives)
• TASC, Inc., of Illinois (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities) - Provides behavioral health recovery management services for individuals with substance abuse and mental health disorders.
• National TASC - Programs and other behavioral health, recovery and reentry oriented groups that seeks to advance the cause of offender reentry and individual case management on the National level
• Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) - a NIDA partnership with federal agencies, researchers, criminal justice professionals, and drug abuse treatment practitioners to learn how to best provide treatment for drug abusing offenders

Other Resources

• MEDLINEplus Health Information on Drug Abuse - National Library of Medicine, NIH
• www.abovetheinfluence.com - Office of National Drug Control Policy
• healthfinder.gov - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services