The issue of drug abuse in the criminal world is ambiguous due to the radically different opinions related to the punishment of criminals. While some people believe that sending criminal drug addicts to special drug-treatment programs is effective, I think that the majority of people judge differently. There is a common prejudice about the relevant punishment procedures that focuses on the necessity to send criminals to prison. People with this opinion are generally convinced that criminals have to pay for their crimes with no regard for the possible external and internal causes behind the crimes.
In terms of the economy, it is more beneficial to send criminals to prison. Otherwise, there would be a developed demand for the enhancement of drug-treatment procedures for criminals that would require governmental investments. However, due to the statistic that displays that a big part of committed crimes is drug-related, the investment in drug-treatment procedures could reduce the number of people who commit crimes serious enough to be sentenced. Naturally, it would mean less financial focus on the prisons. Moreover, the economic decisions related to investments in prisons or drug treatment majorly affect politics due to the correlation between the rate of crimes, the number of relapses, and public discontent. Finally, in the context of morals, sending criminals to the drug-treatment procedures is more morally correct due to the factor of side reasons behind the crimes represented by drugs. Realistically speaking, imprisonment does not help a person recover from drug addiction, which directly means that they are more likely to commit similar crimes in the future. Additionally, to a certain extent, people under the effect of drugs are not considered to be fully conscious, which means that imprisonment can seem morally unfair.