Last Updated April 14, 2004

Almost 20 percent of Indiana state prisoners are drug offenders, costing taxpayers more than $75 million a year to keep them in custody. To free up space in their state prisons and save taxpayers money, legislators passed sweeping drug reforms in 2001, including allowing nonviolent drug offenders to receive drug treatment, home detention or work release instead of prison time.

In the words of State Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend), "Many of these prisoners are drug offenders who are not dangerous to society. They are only dangerous to themselves. We put them in prisons, which are known as schools of crime, they come out hardened and two of three go back. We're trying to stem the tide of building prisons. It's a tax savings, but also perhaps we need to focus more on rehabilitation."