Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002
Source: Garden Island (HI)
Copyright: 2002 Kauai Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.kauaiworld.com/kauai/letterstoeditor.nsf/webletter?openform
Website: http://kauaiworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964

PRISONER RELEASE

Gov. Ben Cayetano is reported to be ready to sign a bill today that would 
offer drug treatment to non-violent first time offenders of drug-related 
crimes in lieu of jail time. The goal of the bill is to ease the 
overcrowding in the state's prisons. Some 300 prisoners might be released 
once the bill is in place. The bill is being driven by the fact that the 
state is facing lawsuits over overcrowding in prisons.

The cost of the drug treatment programs are about half the cost of sending 
someone to prison, according to retired Circuit Judge Masato Doi.

It's estimated that up to 85 percent of those incarcerated in Hawai'i's 
prisons are in for crimes related to drug abuse or alcohol abuse, and a 
sizable number of this group are on a merry-go-round of jail terms related 
to their substance abuse.

The treatment instead of time plan would do good for some first- timers. 
However, the danger is that without a stiff penalty for first- time drug 
arrests some users won't take the law as seriously as they should.

Liberalizing drug laws could push some early stage users past where they 
would be stopped in abusing drugs through the threat of a jail term, 
creating greater long-term problems.

As the bottom line of the concept behind the bill is the cutting back on 
the number of prisoners in state prisons, this strategy could back fire.

However, the bill has the governor's blessing and should be given a chance 
to see if the new system both cuts back on drug use, and lessens the head 
counts in our prisons. But if drug use goes up and the prisons stay as 
crowded as ever stiff penalties for drug-related crimes should be 
reinstated for good.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens