On May 22, I read an excellent column in the Bangor Daily News written by Dr. Erik Steele, in which he called Maine’s “addiction to prison” an inadequate solution to our alcohol and drug abuse crisis. He noted that we are using our courts and prisons as the primary strategy in the war on drugs.

We put people with substance use disorders in jail to punish them for their criminal behavior. But since those facilities aren’t meant to be treatment programs, people are released into their communities with the same illness they had when they went in. Does anybody really believe that this is a viable solution?

Members of the general public say they don’t want to pay for substance abuse treatment. Yet our taxpayer dollars do pay for prisons and jails, and it costs far more to lock someone away than it does to mandate treatment.

Statistics tell us that the majority of incarcerated women and men committed their crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In Maine, I’ve heard the figure is between 60 percent and 85 percent.

Over the last 23 years, I’ve spoken with hundreds of people in treatment and recovery circles, many with past criminal histories related to their addiction. Now responsible, upstanding citizens, they were successfully rehabilitated through treatment – not the “corrections” system – for far fewer dollars. Research statistics back me up. Treatment works.

Since our taxpayer dollars are going to be spent on alcohol- and drug-related crimes anyway, why not put our money to better use? Let’s do the math: It costs taxpayers an average of $43,000 per year to house an inmate in Maine and $100,000 to build a new prison cell. And what do we get for our money? Offenders are off the streets for a while, making society safer, and they’ve been punished to boot.

But consider the high price of likely recidivism for inmates who need treatment but do not get it. Since the illness of addiction worsens over time, we can expect repetitive jail cycles until alcohol or drugs eventually kill the offender.

On the other hand, average yearly treatment costs can range from $6,084 for outpatient counseling to about $25,532 for long-term residential treatment, according to a February 2005 report, “Economic Benefits of Drug Treatment,” by the Treatment Research Institute.

By the way, if you think Maine is already putting too many dollars into substance abuse treatment, the state’s Office of Substance Abuse reported that it is able to fund services for only 17 percent of those in need. The office estimates that more than $4 million is needed to treat those who do seek help.

We will save ourselves money by providing rehabilitation instead of imposing prison terms. Research has found that every dollar spent on substance abuse treatment yields $7 of economic benefit to society, with the total costs related to crime and incarceration decreased by $7,500 per person treated, and employment earnings increased by $3,400.

Knowing this, let’s get nonviolent offenders out of our jails and into treatment by creating alternative sentencing programs. Maine drug courts are proving to be highly effective, and states all around us are using alternative sentencing models that work. We have much to learn from them.

Tell your legislators that you want your hard-earned tax dollars better spent keeping nonviolent offenders with alcohol and drug problems out of jail. More money needs to be put into Maine’s treatment system – and overcrowding eased in our prisons and jails – through alternative sentencing.

Addiction is an illness that can and should be treated, not locked away behind bars. Treating substance abusers saves lives and saves tax dollars.

Debbie Dettor is coordinator of the Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery. Please join our weekly conversation about Maine’s substance abuse problem. We welcome stories, comments or questions from all perspectives. Letters may be mailed to Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04401. Send e-mail contributions to findingafix@bangordailynews.net. Column editor Meg Haskell may be reached at (207) 990-8291 or mhaskell@bangordailynews.net.