Ideally you want to lower recidivism. Giving people who were stealing or dealing drugs a reasonable chance of making a good living in a legal way reduces recidi

Ideally you want to lower recidivism. Giving people who were stealing or dealing drugs a reasonable chance of making a good living in a legal way reduces recidivism. Getting people with unstable homes and unstable lives counseling and training reduces recidivism. Helping them get jobs reduces recidivism. The state really has little to gain from punishment. There's keeping people who are a risk off the streets on one hand. There's rehabilitation and changing the circumstances of the offenders. The interest in punishment is from politicians who want to appear "tough on crime" to their electorate. Those policies aren't tough on crime, though. They're tough on criminals in all the ways that lead to more crime in the end.