Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jan 2013
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117

SENSIBLE DRUG LAWS

The point is being made by both sides of the political spectrum: 
Prisons and jails are needlessly stuffed with low-level drug offenders.

Just this month in Austin, the state's muscular Texas Association of 
Business joined the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy 
Foundation in advocating for less expensive and more effective 
approaches than incarceration for small amounts of illicit drugs.

On the other side of the political spectrum, a new report from the 
Texas Criminal Justice Coalition clarified how much these 
prison-for-possession cases are costing taxpayers: $700,000 a day, 
just for those sent to state lockups in 2011.

This newspaper agrees that it's time to recalibrate the state's 
criminal code. Drug courts and treatment programs have proved more 
effective than straight jail time in rehabilitating addicted 
offenders, and these approaches deserve more investment by the state.

At the same time, the Legislature should address penalties for the 
lower-level drug crimes, such as possessing an ounce or less of 
marijuana. That is now a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a $2,000 
fine and 180 days in jail. Under a bill by Rep. Harold Dutton, 
D-Houston, the offense would be reclassified as a Class C 
misdemeanor, which typically brings no jail time and a fine of up to 
$500. Repeat offenders would be subject to Class B penalties.

This bill is the way Texas drug laws should be headed. For one, it 
makes financial sense, since jail time soaks up tax dollars and 
courts are obligated to furnish an attorney to indigent defendants 
charged with Class B misdemeanors.

In 2007, lawmakers tried to cut the number of drug-possession and 
other nonviolent defendants in county jails by dropping the 
requirement that they be arrested and held for trial. But many cities 
and counties have not exercised the option to write summonses for 
low-level drug suspects and continue to book them into jails. Once 
there, many poor young people won't make bail and are often headed to 
a life in the criminal justice system.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation's Right on Crime project makes the 
case that prison beds need to be reserved for dangerous, violent 
criminals, while low-risk, nonviolent offenders should be 
appropriately rehabilitated. Unnecessary incarceration, the 
foundation says, not only wastes tax dollars in prison costs, it 
breaks up families and leads to huge expenses in foster care and 
unpaid child support.

The Texas Association of Business sees it also from a workforce 
perspective. If they are poorly educated and untrained, low-level 
criminals are a drag on society instead of contributing to it.

The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition points to lower recidivism rates 
for offenders who are sent to drug treatment programs instead of 
jail. It costs less than $10 a day for typical nonresidential 
treatment, compared with more than $50 a day in state prison, the 
coalition reported.

With the ends of the political spectrum seemingly aligned on this 
issue, lawmakers need to meet them in the middle and take these 
reform proposals seriously.

The book on drug possession

Nine of every 10 drug arrests in Texas are for possession, not 
delivery or distribution.

More than 125,000 people were arrested for possession in 2010, 
one-tenth of the total arrests for all crimes.

About 30 percent of the 22,057 incoming Texas prison inmates were 
drug offenders in fiscal 2011, and about 75 percent of them were 
convicted of possession.

Incoming prisoners on possession convictions in 2011 cost Texas 
taxpayers nearly $700,000 a day.

Texas spends about $18,500 per year per inmate.

Community supervision and drug treatment cost about $3,500 per year per client.

SOURCE: Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
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