Pubdate: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408 Author: Norm Maleng Note: Norm Maleng is King County prosecuting attorney. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: STATE DELIVERS MONEY FOR DRUG TREATMENT It seems from reading the newspaper these days that there is nothing but bad news coming from Olympia, with headlines about budget deficits, cutbacks and gridlock. What may have been lost among the bad news is a courageous legislative achievement in bringing balance to our strategy against illegal drugs. With the passage of HB 2338, we have taken a huge step forward in reforming drug sentencing laws. The bill was sponsored in the House by Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, and Ida Ballasiotes, R-Mercer Island, and in the Senate by Adam Kline, D-Seattle, and Jeanine Long, R-Mill Creek. The Legislature last enacted major drug policy reform in 1989 by doubling prison sentences for drug delivery crimes and promising to build a drug treatment infrastructure within the criminal justice system. The prison sentences were appropriate at the time and have contributed to our reduced crime rate. They have been an effective tool for law enforcement; we have not lost neighborhoods to drug dealers, as has occurred in many major U.S. cities. The result of tough sentencing laws, however, has been that 25 percent of the prison inmates in the state are there for a drug crime, many for selling less than $50 worth of drugs. What did not happen after 1989 was the promise of state-funded drug treatment. With the exception of county drug courts, which are funded by county budgets supplemented by federal grants and some state assistance, there has been no attempt to build up treatment as an equal partner with law enforcement. The bill, now awaiting Gov. Gary Locke's approval, does these three things: *Reduces the prison terms for minor drug dealers by about 6 months for the first offense, from 24 months to 18 months. *Captures the money that we would have spent on incarceration within the Department of Corrections. *Invests that money, up to $8.25 million a year, into drug treatment programs within county criminal justice systems and the state prisons. The current state drug sentencing laws, which are tough but rigid, will be replaced by a sentencing scheme that will allow prosecutors to distinguish between small-time addicted dealers and those who peddle drugs for profit. The former will still face prison time, but also have drug treatment programs to help them escape the cycle of addiction and imprisonment. Major dealers, and those who sell to minors, will actually face longer terms than they do today. Arrest, prosecution and imprisonment were never supposed to be the entire strategy to combat drugs. Drug abuse is a complex issue that cannot be successfully battled without a comprehensive strategy that incorporates treatment as an equal partner with law enforcement. We have learned, through our drug court experience, that you can force people to go through drug treatment. Drug court gives defendants a choice - -- incarceration or treatment. Many people need the threat of jail to motivate them to change their behavior. A judge, working with a treatment provider, closely monitors the progress or relapse of participants, who are kept honest by regular and random urinalysis tests. Those who succeed after a year or more of supervision have their cases dismissed. Those who fail the program are found guilty as charged and serve their sentence, in county jail or state prison. We have a success rate in drug court of 40 percent. That's an amazing statistic when you consider the powerful hold that drugs can have on people's minds and bodies. Drug court graduates are far less likely to be re-arrested than those who simply went to jail for their use of drugs. Drug treatment costs about $2,500 a year, or one-tenth the cost of incarceration. It also offers hope for redemption to people who are otherwise facing a miserable future of addiction and incarceration. But only a fraction of those in need of treatment can be served by drug courts, and only a dozen of our 39 counties even have one. We need a balance of treatment and sanctions. The 2002 Legislature has stepped up to the plate with a bold approach that signals a new direction in our drug policy. They did so with bipartisan support and a pledge of state funding that fulfills an old promise that treatment would work hand-in-hand with law enforcement. The bill provides the stable state funding that counties need in order to make drug treatment available within their criminal justice systems. This is the good news from Olympia. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager