Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2001
Source: Florida Today (FL)
Copyright: 2001 FLORIDA TODAY
Contact:  http://www.flatoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/532
Author: Tony Manolatos
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CRACK: THE ENDURING CRISIS

Lawmakers Debate Lockup Versus Treatment

State and federal lawmakers frequently stress drug treatment for offenders 
as a top priority, but funding decisions have yet to catch up to the rhetoric.

Nationally, about half of last year's $18.4 billion federal budget for drug 
control was spent on law enforcement.

A January study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at 
Columbia University in New York shows that states spent $81.3 billion in 
1998 to deal with drugs, or about 13.1 percent of their overall state 
budgets. But only four cents of every dollar spent went toward prevention 
and treatment.

In Florida, taxpayers spent $214.70 per person to deal with the effects of 
drug and alcohol abuse in 1998, but only $5.28 of that went for abuse 
prevention and treatment, the study found.

"The choice for governors and state legislators is this: Either continue to 
tax their constituents for funds to shovel up the wreckage of alcohol, drug 
and nicotine abuse and addiction, or recast their priorities to focus on 
preventing and treating such abuse and addiction," the study said.

The annual cost for rehabilitating a drug addict in a live-in or 
residential center averages about half of the cost of locking someone up 
for a year, which runs between $20,000 and $40,000, said Joseph Califano, 
president of the Columbia University addiction center.

"For a couple of thousand dollars, you can provide treatment to people 
while they're in prison or jail," Califano said. "We estimate that about 90 
percent of the people behind bars could benefit from treatment, but we're 
only providing it to about 1 or 2 percent."

The center's study also said the potential for crime reduction greatly 
increases as drug users are rehabilitated. Estimates of property and 
violent crimes committed by active drug addicts range from 89 to 191 per 
year per addict.

Lawmakers are tough on crack because of the crime and violence it breeds.

Federal law imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of five years with no 
parole for possession of five grams or more of crack by a first-time 
offender. To get the same penalty for powder cocaine, you'd need a half 
kilo, or 500 grams.

The 100-to-1 disparity, which Congress created at the height of the crack 
panic in the 1980s, often has been criticized as unjust. Although it's not 
common for the federal government to prosecute someone for simple posession.

And states, meanwhile, may set their own penalties. In Florida, there is no 
distinction between crack and powder cocaine. Most first-time 
drug-possession offenders do not receive jail time, but some do.

The Brevard County prosecutor's office looks at crack on a case-by- case basis.

"There are addicts who want to stop living that lifestyle," said William 
Respess, an assistant state attorney whose handled hundreds of crack cases 
in his 13 years on the job. "But there is another group of people who 
commit any other crime you can mention, including murder. You have to 
punish the individual for the act they committed. So it just depends on the 
person."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager