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NCSL Substance Abuse Snapshot

Matthew Gever, Staff Writer
Allison Colker, Editor

May 15, 2008

Criminal Justice Interventions

President Signs Second Chance Act
President Bush recently signed the Second Chance Act into law, which, among other things, provides states with $55 million in grants to help re-entering offenders transition back into society. States can spend the money on addiction and mental-health treatment, job training, education, housing and other services. Additionally, the law looks to expand addiction treatment programs inside prisons as an alternative to incarceration. "We believe that even those who have struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead," said the President. "One way we act on that belief is by helping former prisoners who've paid for their crimes—we help them build new lives as productive members of our society."

Iowa Prisons to Ban Smoking
Correctional institutions in the Hawkeye State will become smoke free in January, despite their exemption from a statewide smoking ban, the Des Moines Register reports. Prison officials cite rising health care costs as the impetus for the following through with the ban. Some, however, fear more dire consequences. "If you take away cigarettes from the inmates, they may have nobody else to take their frustrations out on other than a correctional officer," Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told the Register. The ban will include all state facilities, and even applies to outdoor areas such as prison courtyards. The paper also reports that smoking rates are twice as high for inmates as for the outside population.

Treatment Services

Computer System Helps in Recovery
A computer-assisted training program is helping recovering drug abusers recover faster, according to a Yale School of Medicine Study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The program is a six-part series which features in-depth lessons addressing challenges to the patient's recovery. The lessons were given in conjunction with traditional counseling. At the end of the trial, those who used the computer-based program had fewer positive drug tests that those who used traditional counseling alone.

Drug Specific Issues

Medical Marijuana Denies Organ Transplant Patients
Some patients awaiting an organ transplant may be denied because of their use of medical marijuana, regardless of whether the respective state has approved its use, the Associated Press reports. Some hospitals deny organs to patients who have used an illicit substance as a means of whittling down transplant waiting lists. Also, some doctors commented that marijuana could interfere with post-transplant drugs necessary to prevent organ rejection, the article states. Currently, no national qualification standards exist, leading some experts to call for such standards that take these state laws into account.

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