Drug Treatment in Adult Probation: An Evaluation of an Outpatient and Acupuncture Program.

Drug policy in the United States during the past decade has been driven primarily by a law enforcement approach (Falco, 1989). Law enforcement programs include interdiction, supply reduction, arrests, and prosecution. While the overall effectiveness of this policy is certainly debatable, the impact is much easier to observe. The most recent statistics on the drug problem in the United States paint a disquieting picture. In 1991, 7.1% of all arrests were for drug abuse violations. When arrests for driving under the influence, liquor laws, and drunkenness are included the figure rises to 30°7o (Maguire, Pastore, & Flanagan, 1992). Prisons, jails, and treatment facilities remain severely overcrowded, and the number of drug arrests and convictions continue to rise sharply (Shapiro, 1989). Although the bulk of our resources in the "war on drugs" have been devoted to law enforcement efforts, there are two additional strategies employed in this struggle: prevention and education, and treatment. Campaigns urging people to "Just Say No" and programs in schools are some of the prevention efforts currently in practice. Through the use of advertisements and the media the public is being informed of the dangers of using and abusing drugs. Prevention efforts are often difficult to gauge, however, there is some evidence that drug use among teenagers is declining. Lifetime prevalence rates for college seniors reporting use of any illicit drug has declined from 65% in 1979 to 44% in 1991 (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1992). Finally, treatment is a strategy used to fight the drug problem by helping drug users overcome their drug dependency. Despite the rhetoric, in reality this strategy has been neglected and underfunded by policy makers and politicians, particularly at the Federal level. While drug treatment for professional athletes, entertainers, and those that can afford it (or with insurance) has been the domain of private providers, for the vast majori ty of drug users, treatment is left to the criminal justice system. As the largest correctional sanction imposed, probation deals with the vast majori ty of offenders, many of whom have some substance abuse problem. Given the nature of substance abuse, with its complex symptoms, interrelationships of underlying causes, and frequency of relapse, there is little wonder that probation agencies are often unequipped to deal with the drug-dependent offender. Indeed, the tools that are often employed by these agencies are much better at detecting a problem than solving it. ~ Since probation agencies are forced to deal with large numbers of substance abusers, many have developed their own treatment programs. This paper will examine one such program and discuss the issues surrounding drug treatment in a community corrections setting. There are three aspects to this paper. First, we will examine what is meant by "drug t reatment" in an outpatient setting and what is generally known about its effectiveness. Second, we will present the results f rom one court's attempt to deal with drug-dependent offenders. This aspect of the paper will focus on the effectiveness of an innovative outpatient drug-free treatment facility serving felony drug offenders placed on probation. Treatment in this program included educational and group therapy as well as acupuncture. Finally, we