2024-03-06
6 分钟Nicholas Kristof: I'm Nicholas Kristof.
I'm a columnist at 'The New York Times.'
And I've got a rare story that is actually uplifting.
It's a story about how one place is overcoming America's curse of addiction.
I think that we in the US have bungled our response to addiction.
And that's partly because people have just abandoned hope that anything will actually make a difference.
And I think that's wrong.
So, let me tell you about Women in Recovery,
which is a program in Oklahoma that treats addiction.
And it has generated a remarkable track record.
Women in Recovery is a diversion program for women in Tulsa.
The program says that it is cheaper than incarceration,
which is the alternative for the women involved.
And people in Oklahoma say that it saves the state millions of dollars for that reason.
It typically lasts about 18 months.
About 70 percent of women who start Women in Recovery manage to complete it.
And of those who do complete it,
fewer than 4 percent ever return to prison within three years of graduation.
I went to Tulsa recently to learn more about Women in Recovery,
and I spent time with one of the women in the program,