Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jun 2000
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Authors: Kimberlee Healey and James H. Kleckner (2 LTEs)
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n810/a08.html

SHOULD WE INCARCERATE DRUG ADDICTS, OR NOT?

Re: "Jail time for addicts" (Editorial, June 14):

It's really sad that, despite the exhaustive research on addiction and 
treatment, there still are so many people who believe that incarceration is 
the answer.

Certainly, jail time for drug use must be of some deterrent while the 
offender is in a court-ordered program; most addicts aren't stupid. But we 
are kidding no one but ourselves if we think that coercive treatment is a 
successful long-term solution. Abstinence does not equal recovery. Locking 
up addicts is a head-in-the-sand, feel-good solution, a sort of legislative 
fix that has proven to be woefully ineffective.

So is there a solution? Decriminalize our existing drug laws, and pour all 
the money spent on chasing and locking up addicts into preventive programs 
and voluntary treatment centers. Superior Court Judge James Milliken and 
other drug-court judges deserve kudos for trying to bring about a positive 
change within a flawed framework. But flawed it is.

Are we humble enough to admit that the country's war-on-drugs approach has 
been a dismal failure? And are we wise enough to commit our resources to 
the more humane (and less costly) paradigm of drug decriminalization that 
has proven to work so well in other nations around the world?

By the way, I can't help but be puzzled at the attitude of the corrections 
officers' union on this issue. It contends that the upcoming ballot 
initiative would remove judges' discretion in sentencing. But isn't this 
the same group that supported the three-strikes law, which further erodes 
judiciary power?

Kimberlee Healey, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D