We Spend Too Much on Prisons Would you believe that America has spent about five hundred billion dollars on prisons. (Butterfield) Why do American taxpayers spend so much money on prisons and not other effective solutions to end crime? American legislation is closed on crime reduction. They believe that prison is the one and only solution. As crime continues to occur, more and more prisons must be built and kept operating for the increasing number of inmates flooding into prisons. Prison may be part of the solution, but there are other alternatives to help criminals. If we were to integrate services like drug rehabilitation and job training into the criminal justice system, crime would be significantly reduced. Prisoners would commit fewer crimes after experiencing these facilities, thereby reducing the cost of building and maintaining prisons. The end result will be that American taxpayer dollars will be available for more productive things than prisons. Prisons require a lot of money to run properly and efficiently. By using taxes to fund prisons, the American public pays to provide for inmates and all their needs. Prisoners need food, drinks, beds, supplies to perform other activities, and all the neglected things in normal life that go along with these necessities. Inmates have special needs, like all of us. Inmates need medical care, for example some suffer from AIDS or other illnesses that require medications that rack up large bills over time. (Luzadder) Imagine the money amassed over the course of a life sentence to pay for medication. The American public pays all these expenses added to the actual construction of the prison...... middle of paper ......imes which would inevitably send them back to prison. While being perfectly logical, this solution radically modifies the notion of prison. The effects of social programs embedded in prisons begin by helping direct taxpayer dollars to more prolific uses, and extend to making Americans smarter, more educated, and less dangerous. Works Cited Federal Bureau of Prisons: http://www.bop.gov /Inciardi, Dr. James A., A Corrections-Based Continuum of Effective Substance Abuse Treatment. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Available: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/contdrug.txtButterfield, Fox. “Prison: where is the money”. New York Times, June 1, 1996Luzadder, Dan. "House gets bill that puts money into prisons and colleges." Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau. Available: http://insidedenver.com/extra/legislature/0325budg0.html