Competing Value Premises for the Provision of Drug Treatment to Probationers

Abstract

Anti-drug-abuse policy debates center on the relative emphasis to be given to prevention, enforcement, and treatment efforts. Even though there are insufficient treatment services to meet the demand, there has been little debate about the question of who should benefit first from the available services. The consequences of lack of such policy for urban probation departments are examined. Lack of an allocation policy appears to be related to unresolved conflicts among competing premises for allocating services. Four premises are identified, and how drug-abusing probationers might fare under each premise is discussed.