NEWS: Rehab Not Working For Drug Abusers In California, page 1

A program designed to get substance abusers the help that they need in the overburdened California prison systems has not only failed to help those afflicted, but resulted in a higher rate of rearrest for drug violations. According to the study, people who received the treatment were 48 percent more likely to have another drug arrest than those on parole or probation.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A groundbreaking California program designed to get drug abusers the medical help they need and alleviate strain on the state's prison system faced challenges in its first six months, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles looked at how drug abusers fared since the state's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act took effect in July 2001. In 2000, voters backed a plan to send nonviolent drug offenders to rehab instead of prison. Supporters said it would be more effective and less expensive than incarceration.

The study published on Friday found that offenders in rehabilitation were 48 percent more likely to be arrested for a drug offense within a year of starting rehab than drug users who were on parole or probation.

David Farabee, the study's lead author and a research scientist at UCLA, said he also "found that abusers with the most severe problems were unlikely to get treatment in a residential program."

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Rehab does not work. At least the way it is practiced currently. This �plan� was passed by California voters by a narrow margin in 2000. It was touted as a way to save money and the backers of rehab supported by their Hollywood bulwarks painted a rosy picture of the program. SO what did this �warm and fuzzy� approach get us? A 48 percent change of being arrested for the same charges that got them in the rehab program in the first place. What would work? Lots and lots of labor, from picking up trash on the sides of highways to tending crops and the like. Make them pay for their stay and you bet a lot of them won't want to come back