Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

TREATMENT, YES, BUT NOT THIS BILL

Sb 163 Has the Right Aim - Helping Drug Users, Not Locking Them Up - 
but It Misses Its Target.

It sounds like a great idea.

Drug addicts, whose crimes consist of hurting themselves, shouldn't 
go to prison. They should go to treatment.

That's the sentiment behind a bill pending in the state legislature 
that would dramatically reduce penalties for possessing illegal 
drugs, making some of those crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies.

The trouble is, the bill is predicated on a number of misconceptions. 
We hope legislators vote it down. First, the state's prisons are not 
filled to the brim with people whose only crime is using.

Proponents of the penalty reduction measure, Senate Bill 163, say 
more than 200 people are incarcerated in Colorado prisons for nothing 
more than drug use.

Prosecutors, who are combing through complex records, tell us the 
number is more like 10 - 20 at the most - who are first-time felony 
drug convicts there for use only. The rest also faced other criminal 
charges, or have lengthy rap sheets.

It's a key issue, and here's why:

It costs a lot to send people to prison, and those supporting SB 163 
are counting on huge savings from this reform as a source of funding 
for drug treatment programs. No savings, no treatment.

There are other issues as well.

The criminal justice system's penalty matrix is complex, and what 
seems like a simple change from a felony to a misdemeanor would have 
undesirable ripple effects.

One of them has to do with the state's drug courts. Although 
proponents are adamant that their proposed changes would not affect 
the state's successful drug courts, which offer robust treatment 
options, we are persuaded otherwise.

The various drug courts are different, but in Denver's, a person 
charged with drug possession can go from facing a felony to a 
misdemeanor by agreeing to go through drug court and treatment.

Take away that stick, so to speak, and what is their motivation to 
get clean? Sure, some will choose treatment, but we think a lesser 
conviction or a dismissed charge, as is the case in some of 
Colorado's drug courts, is an important motivator. This bill would 
undercut drug courts, which are successful.

The other issue is that certain options for hard-core drug abusers 
are available only if a person is convicted of a felony. We're 
talking about community corrections and some of the more intensive 
residential treatment programs.

If a person is not convicted of a felony, a judge does not have the 
option of using these programs, which could be an important lifeline 
for the most troubled addicts.

Another issue centers on the fiscal impact on county jails, which 
would see more misdemeanor convicts with no prospect of funding to 
pay for incarceration and treatment.

We are on board with the notion that drug abusers need treatment 
rather than prison but, unfortunately, this bill is not the right way 
to get there.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom