• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Addiction Treatment Forum

Addiction Treatment Forum

Addiction Treatment Forum reports on substance use news of interest to opioid treatment programs and patients in medication-assisted treatment.

  • Newsletter
  • Addiction Resources
  • Methadone
  • Buprenorphine
  • Patient Brochures
  • Events

Virginians Vote: Support Treatment—Not Jail—For Drug Users*

February 13, 2017 by Barbara Goodheart, ELS

Treatment, not jail time—that’s what most people who misuse opioids should be offered, say Virginia voters. More than 6 out of 10 Virginians recently polled favored treatment instead of arrest and criminal charges for heroin users, and more than 7 out of 10 also chose treatment for prescription drug abusers.

The 38% who identified themselves as Democrat or Independent supported treatment for opioid users more strongly than the 24% who called themselves Republicans.

Almost 90% of respondents—including 81% of Republicans and 92% of Democrats—expressed very strong support for community-based treatment programs for nonviolent offenders who were mentally ill, and said they should not be incarcerated.

These results are from the 2017 Public Policy Poll, a project of the Center for Public Policy, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, at Virginia Commonwealth University. The poll was conducted in partnership with the office of the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.

Participants in the poll were 1,000 Virginia residents who took part in telephone interviews in December. The margin of error was 4.1 percentage points. To access the Public Policy Poll results, go to http://www.wilder.vcu.edu/media/wilder/documents/2017_poll_Public_safety_FINAL.pdf.

Resource

Treat, don’t jail, drug users, poll says. By Jessica Samuels, Capital News Service. The Suffolk News-Herald. January 21, 2017. http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2017/01/21/treat-dont-jail-drug-users-poll-says/.

*See related article in this issue on stigma-sensitive terms.

Filed Under: 2017, 28-1, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), Newsletter

Primary Sidebar

Upcoming Events

CADCA 2023 Leadership Forum and SAMHSA’s Prevention Day
January 30-February 3, 2023

Washington, D.C.
http://cadca.org/forum2023

2023 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit
April 10-13, 2023

Atlanta, Georgia
https://www.rx-summit.com/

2023 ASAM conference
April 13-16, 2023

Washington, D.C.
https://annualconference.asam.org/

 

View More Upcoming Events…

ATForum.com

  • Newsletter
  • Addiction Resources
  • Rx Methadone & Safety
  • Patient Education Brochures
  • Events
  • Related Websites

Addiction Resources

  • Addiction and Recovery
  • Addiction Treatment Forum
  • Books and Booklets of Interest
  • Drug Screening and Testing
  • Evidence-Based Addiction Medicine
  • Federal Government
  • Health Care Reform
  • Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS
  • Medication-Assisted Treatment
  • Mental Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Online Continuing Education Free Training Modules

Footer

Addiction Treatment Forum is produced by an independent medical communications agency. Commercial advertising is not accepted.
Published by Clinco Communications, Inc.
About Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Follow Us

Sign up for News!

© 2023 Addiction Treatment Forum · All Rights Reserved