That was the word Tuesday as Patrick Fleming, director of the county's substance abuse division, delivered his annual report to the County Council.

Fleming wants to start by opening the mental-health wing of the mothballed Oxbow Jail, along with its 50-plus beds, to operate as a receiving center for drug offenders.

"It's a triage thing," Fleming explained. "People coming to the receiving center stay three to five days. Then, 50 to 70 percent would go to a treatment center rather than jail."

Fleming's plan calls for $700,000 a year to cover the Oxbow contract and transportation. If approved - the council took no action Tuesday - the Volunteers of America would run the operation to insulate the county from extra cost.

Council members applauded the plan, though few details on Oxbow were vetted. Instead, support settled on freeing jail space for more hardened criminals.

"This is pretty incredible to hear that we can have an impact on jail overcrowding so quickly," said Councilman Cortlund Ashton.

Oxbow and the Adult Detention Center are in South Salt Lake.

Statistics show incarceration costs twice as much and offenders stay nearly twice as long as those in community-based treatment programs. The report cites methamphetamine as the drug of choice in the western United States, while heroin afflicts the East.

To affect long-term change in recovery, Fleming says the private sector must return to the business of fighting substance-abuse and reduce the burden on taxpayers. Right now, county treatment programs receive federal block grants and county tax money, which is matched partly by state dollars. But beginning July 1, the programs will see a net loss of $173,000 as a result of changes in the state funding formula, the report states.

Even so, county treatment programs have proven highly effective. Fleming acknowledges that recidivism always exists in chronic cases, but insists getting to a drug offender early in life makes all the difference.

"You've got to deal with the biology of it," he said. "That's why prevention is so important."

djensen@sltrib.com