The problem, however, is that when drug users are convicted, their student loans can be denied. This is the exact opposite of what our justice system should be doing. We should be helping them grow to become better citizens, rather than make barricades that prevent them from becoming productive members of society. With the price of college tuition skyrocketing it is nearly impossible to pay for college while working an unskilled labor job. This leaves them in the predicament of working a low paying job just to get by. A much better solution would be to offer more education programs in prisons. Logically the inmates do not have many other activities to do while in prison. This makes their time in prison the perfect opportunity to pursue their
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It costs on average over $20,000 per year to keep these people in prison for a 20 year sentence such as many of the people were serving would cost the taxpayer $400,000. That money could pay for an astronomical amount of rehabilitation. And that is before we take in consideration the amount of money these people would have paid in taxes had they instead been working. The cost to the American taxpayer is much greater than simply the costs of keeping the drug addict in prison. Few people stop to consider how much tax revenues these individuals would be generating is they were not in prison. With the average American earning slightly over $50,000 per year and a tax rate of 20 percent these incarcerated people could be generating an additional $10,000 dollars of tax revenues per year if they were instead enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program that would allow them to work while completing their …show more content…
This in large part due to the laws passed in the 80s and 90s hat were meant to fight the war on drugs. These laws put harsh sentences on drug users. However they been completely ineffective since prison does not help drug addicts. Now that we have seen these long terms of imprisonment are not helping us lower the drug usage but also have put an enormous strain on the federal budget, we need to put new laws in place that shorten prison sentences. In addition we need to place drug offenders into rehabilitation program while they are serving their time in prison. We also need to place minor drug offenders in mandatory rehabilitation program that allow them to either keep their jobs or find new employment while enrolled in these drug therapy programs. We also need to spend more money and effort on informing our youth the dangers of abusing
It costs on average over $20,000 per year to keep these people in prison for a 20 year sentence such as many of the people were serving would cost the taxpayer $400,000. That money could pay for an astronomical amount of rehabilitation. And that is before we take in consideration the amount of money these people would have paid in taxes had they instead been working. The cost to the American taxpayer is much greater than simply the costs of keeping the drug addict in prison. Few people stop to consider how much tax revenues these individuals would be generating is they were not in prison. With the average American earning slightly over $50,000 per year and a tax rate of 20 percent these incarcerated people could be generating an additional $10,000 dollars of tax revenues per year if they were instead enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program that would allow them to work while completing their …show more content…
This in large part due to the laws passed in the 80s and 90s hat were meant to fight the war on drugs. These laws put harsh sentences on drug users. However they been completely ineffective since prison does not help drug addicts. Now that we have seen these long terms of imprisonment are not helping us lower the drug usage but also have put an enormous strain on the federal budget, we need to put new laws in place that shorten prison sentences. In addition we need to place drug offenders into rehabilitation program while they are serving their time in prison. We also need to place minor drug offenders in mandatory rehabilitation program that allow them to either keep their jobs or find new employment while enrolled in these drug therapy programs. We also need to spend more money and effort on informing our youth the dangers of abusing