Subject: Re: GOP Primaries : Policy Debates Permanently Axed_QM
It's not really just drugs. Whatever you do, you're going to have to spend more money on ancillary things related to whichever approach you take. Again, simplistically, both approaches -done properly- will provide housing, food, and healthcare. One is in a prison, the other isn't. And in either case, if you don't spend the money on the ancillary things, you'll have other problems (e.g. tents on sidewalks, prison over-crowding, etc).

Actually you do option (c): Criminalize drugs and send them to prison BUT include intense drug detox - plus follow up services - as an option. Rhode Island nails it:

https://www.chcf.org/project/m...
People released from jail or prison are at increased risk of death, especially in the first four weeks after leaving incarceration. The prime driver is drug overdose, including opioid overdose death. While opioid agonist therapy ' buprenorphine or methadone ' has been shown to substantially reduce death rates from opioid overdose in the general population, these treatments are rarely available in jail or prison settings. But they could have a big impact. A British study found that prison-based opioid agonist therapy was associated with a 75% reduction in death in the first four weeks after release. In Rhode Island the post-release overdose death rate dropped 61% within a year after the state implemented an MAT-in-corrections program (offering buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone).

This kind of hybrid approach is the way to go.