Treating Drug Abuse and Addiction in the Criminal Justice System: Improving Public Health and Safety

By Redonna K. Chandler, B. Fletcher, Nora D. Volkow. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 2009

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Despite increasing evidence that addiction is a treatable disease of the brain, most individuals do not receive treatment. Involvement in the criminal justice system often results from illegal drug-seeking behavior and participation in illegal activities that reflect, in part, disrupted behavior ensuing from brain changes triggered by repeated drug use. Treating drug-involved offenders provides a unique opportunity to decrease substance abuse and reduce associated criminal behavior. Emerging neuroscience has the potential to transform traditional sanction-oriented public safety approaches by providing new therapeutic strategies against addiction that could be used in the criminal justice system. We summarize relevant neuroscientific findings and evidence-based principles of addiction treatment that, if implemented in the criminal justice system, could help improve public heath and reduce criminal behavior.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/82674133953b563de07075673f3ec2b7d5014b08