Addiction Behind Bars (NY Times Editorial)

(Hat Tip: The Second Road)

April 12, 2009
"The United States must do more to curb the spread of diseases like AIDS and hepatitis C in prison, where infection rates are high and inmates can easily spread disease through unprotected sex or by sharing needles. Drug treatment in prison is clearly part of the solution. But by some estimates, fewer than one in five inmates who need formal treatment are actually getting it. That’s alarming, given that about half the prison population suffers from drug abuse or dependency problems."
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"A Higher Hurdle: Barriers to Employment for Formerly Incarcerated Women"

From Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, UC Berkeley School of Law...

"Today there are more than two million incarcerated men, women, and children in the United States, with more than 167,000 men and women incarcerated in California’s 33 adult prisons alone. In 2008, one in every 100 Americans is incarcerated, with higher rates of incarceration for men and women of color, particularly African Americans. As a result of disproportionate arrest rates and punitive responses to drug and property crimes, women comprise the fastest-growing segment of the incarcerated population. In California, two-thirds of incarcerated women are mothers of children under the age of 18, compared to about half of the population of incarcerated men."
View the (PDF) Report