Drug Abuse Treatment Effectiveness in the Criminal Justice System

Drug Abuse Treatment Effectiveness in the Criminal Justice System

Over the past few years, recurrent research has shown that there are several benefits of treating the juveniles who engage in drug abuse. These benefits are largely influential in changing the overall perception of the criminal justice system. As such, when the juvenile offenders who are thought to be using drugs are put on therapeutic alternatives, it becomes easier for them to avoid incarceration. It is necessary to ensure that the treatment is merged with the oversight that is established by both the drug courts and jail-based treatments (McCuish, 2017).

Henceforth, it will guide these juveniles to re-enter the programs that will ensure they transit back to the community after incarceration. Monitoring, supervision, and legal sanctions are essential in leveraging the justice system to encourage the drug abusers so that they join treatment and refrain from the possibility of engaging in the deviant behaviors again in the future. As such, there is no need for people to be incarcerated because of some mistakes that could easily be solved without the involvement of the criminal justice system. Behavioral treatments, for instance, could help in reducing the impact of the disorders over time.

Relationship between Delinquency and Substance Abuse

There are two direct relationships between delinquency and substance abuse. The first one is that substance abuse often leads to delinquency, and the second one is that criminal behavior could most likely lead to the use of drugs in adolescents. As such, the existing research shows that the continued use of drugs amongst the teens could lead them to have deviant behaviors. Some of the most common substances that are abused in the society are alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, steroids, prescription drugs, tobacco, opiates, and cocaine (Baglivio & Wolff, 2017). Substance abuse involves the use of all drugs that are illegal, and in juveniles, it could also involve drinking because they have not reached the legal age. Several reasons are associated with the start of drinking at an early age. For instance, drug addiction among other members of the household will lead the adolescent to start engaging in drugs. It means that the child can easily access drugs because they believe that this use of drugs is not bad. However, when addiction sets in, these youths will suffer immensely because life will not despair them, and they could end up involving themselves in crime.