A California study of drug offenders suggests that that drug treatment programs are not successful. It's a bum rap, based on a study that used fairly irrelevant criteria, following just 688 offenders for the first six months.

The study looked only at the early months of the program -- July 1 through Dec. 31, 2001 -- when counties were still grappling with how to implement it. [It] 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.

What the article does not mention is that relapse is not only common, it is practically certain during first attempts at drug treatment. Ask a treatment expert how many of their patients relapse in the first six months and the answer is going to be close to 100%. That doesn't mean drug treatment is not effective. It means it is a process, and may take more than one attempt. As one California official pointed out,

the report is not an accurate evaluation because it was "a snapshot in time -- following just 688 cases in 13 counties for the first six months." "We know that procedures have evolved since the early days," she said.... more recent data shows more abusers are completing treatment programs.