Pubdate: Wed, 05 Nov 2008
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact:  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408
Author: Alison Holcomb
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n999/a07.html

Drug Prosecution

SAVE MILLIONS THROUGH PRE-BOOKING DIVERSION

Monday's editorial calling for a public health approach to drug use 
and abuse ("King County budget: Rethink drug laws") was right on the 
mark. In 2007, Washington law enforcement reported 30,992 arrests for 
drug offenses, and roughly 85 percent were for possession only. 
Treating drug use and addiction as a crime is an expensive and 
ineffective waste of our scarce public resources. We could save 
millions in criminal justice costs through "pre-booking diversion," 
which allows police officers to route low-level drug offenders to 
services instead of jail and the courts. Pilot projects in Seattle 
have shown promising results in terms of reduced recidivism, safer 
communities and changed lives. King County can lead by developing and 
implementing alternatives to the failed "war on drugs." Expanding 
pre-booking diversion programs throughout the region would be a smart 
policy that makes good fiscal sense.

Alison Holcomb

Drug Policy Director ACLU of Washington

Seattle
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom