Substance Misuse and Incarceration in Tennessee

Key Points

• Corrections in Tennessee cost over $1 billion annually due to a rising incarceration rate.
• The State’s increasing incarceration rate is related to the growth in substance misuse which on its own costs Tennessee $2 billion each year and leads to over $1 billion in lost income from a shrinking work force.
• Prioritizing evidence-based treatment that targets the underlying medical and behavioral issues driving addictive habits for justice-involved individuals could simultaneously address rising recidivism, reincarceration, and growing substance misuse.

See report attached, and for additional information, visit https://smart.tennessee.edu/policy-briefs/substance-misuse-incarceration-tn/ .