With the intense overcrowding in the jail system, and with the realization that jail is not an effective deterrent to future drug use, going to rehab instead of going to jail is a very real option in many jurisdictions. Many courts now have programs in place that send drug users to rehabilitation instead of sending them to jail. This is often called alternative sentencing and it can have many benefits.

In this Rehabilitation Guide article we will discuss the possibility that you can go into a rehabilitation facility instead of serving a drug related prison sentence.

The Benefits of Rehab Over Jail

There are many reasons that going through a drug rehabilitation program is a better option than going to jail. According to the Justice Research and Statistics Association, 25% fewer people who went through rehab were arrested within the following 12 months than those that did jail time. In terms of convictions, they were 35% lower in those who went to rehab than in those who went to jail, and 32% fewer people who went through rehab received a jail sentence than those who had been sent to jail previously.

It is believed by many drug addiction experts that jail is a poor deterrent to future drug use and criminal activity. In fact, statistics can be found to demonstrate that time in jail increases a person’s likelihood of engaging in criminal drug use afterwards.

If you are allowed to go to rehab instead of jail, your chances of staying clean once you are out, and staying out of trouble, are significantly increased.

Choosing Rehabilitation Over Jail

Law enforcement is working with the addiction rehabilitation community in many places to develop programs that send those arrested and convicted of minor drug offenses to rehab instead of prison. Ask the court or your attorney about programs available that will send you to rehab instead of jail. Your lawyer will have to request that you be considered for such a program, and the nature of your offense will be taken into consideration.

If you are sent to rehab instead of jail, you will be checked on by the court during your stay. You will be drug-tested during your time in rehab, so you will need to stay clean and you will need to comply with the rehabilitation program’s rules and regulations.

For many, rehabilitation is a much better alternative than going to jail. Talk with your attorney and petition the court to consider this option if you have the choice.