Are there any recent innovations that the administration should consider when developing its drug control strategy?
Given the large number of people subject to community supervision – a group that accounts for a disproportionate share of heavy drug and alcohol use – the administration should pay close attention to strong evaluations of programs that prioritize swift, certain, and small sanctions for probationers and parolees who test positive for drugs or alcohol, or who do not show up for appointments. This idea of regularly testing and immediately punishing those who consume prohibited substances is not new, but it receives a growing amount of attention because of the expansion of the HOPE program in Hawaii and the 24/7 Sobriety Program in South Dakota. Both of these programs warn offenders that they will go to jail for a night or two every time they test positive or miss an appointment. The “innovation” here is the creation of a credible threat—in both programs every violation is actually punished. I would be remiss not to mention an article published by Mark Kleiman and Harold Pollack, both HKS
