Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jun 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Donna Lane

POOR SOLUTION

TO THE EDITOR:

The state pays about $42.50 per day to house a prison inmate. This costs 
taxpayers more than $15,000 a year. My 18-year-old son, a first-time 
offender convicted of selling $60 worth of marijuana, was given a five-year 
sentence rather than being placed in a drug rehab program that would have 
cost me, not the taxpayers, $333 a month.

If you wonder why the state is short on funding, one of the first places to 
look is our judicial system. Prison is no place for an 18-year-old to get 
the rehabilitation he needs, but the district attorney and the judge in my 
son's case seemed to think this was the solution to his problem.

Donna Lane

City
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