Pubdate: Sat, 06 Feb 2016
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2016 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Kevin Rector

BILLS WOULD DECRIMINALIZE SMALL AMOUNTS OF DRUGS

Two Baltimore-area lawmakers plan to introduce legislation in 
Annapolis that would decriminalize small amounts of all illicit drugs 
- - from cocaine to crack to heroin - and provide new options for 
addicts to shoot up safely and seek treatment.

The legislation, sponsors said, would free up police resources and 
reduce incarceration rates by treating low-level drug users like 
patients rather than criminals. It would force hospitals to provide 
on-demand substance abuse treatment in emergency rooms and reduce 
overdoses and the spread of infectious diseases by creating 
facilities where addicts can consume drugs safely under medical 
supervision, they said.

One proposed bill would establish pilot programs to test whether 
crime could be further reduced by providing pharmaceutical-grade 
heroin directly to repeat criminal offenders who have consistently 
failed to recover from addiction through existing treatment options.

Del. Dan Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat and physician who is 
sponsoring the bills, said such progressive programs, modeled on 
international successes, are needed to address the rising rate of 
opioid and other overdose deaths across the state in recent years.

"The status quo isn't working," Morhaim said, because treating 
addicts as criminals and drugs as an illicit commodity fuels the 
profitability of the drug trade and undercuts the ability of addicts 
to find employment when they return to their communities after 
incarceration or recovery.

Recent studies indicate there are an estimated 19,000 heroin users in 
Baltimore, including roughly 9,500 chronic users, and the issue has 
attracted additional attention as overdoses have increased 
significantly in the state's suburbs. A task force established by 
Gov. Larry Hogan to study the issue has recommended expanded access 
to treatment, tighter monitoring of prescription drugs and greater 
focus on groups like inmates and ex-offenders.

Morhaim's bills, also sponsored by Sen. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam - a 
Democrat and registered nurse who represents parts of Baltimore City 
and Baltimore County - go well beyond the recommendations of the 
governor's task force, and their chances of passing are uncertain.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom