Pubdate: Mon, 01 Mar 2004
Source: Birmingham News, The (AL)
Copyright: 2004 The Birmingham News
Contact:  http://al.com/birminghamnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45
Author: Carla Crowder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DRUG LAWS FACE SCALES OF JUSTICE

State More Often Imprisons Marijuana Users

MONTGOMERY - Alabama spends about $4 million each year to lock up marijuana 
users who wouldn't see the inside of prison in many states, according to an 
analysis by the Alabama Sentencing Commission.

The judges, prosecutors and state leaders on the commission agree that 
Alabama's drug laws need fixing. So far they haven't been able to agree on 
reforms that might fly with the Legislature and the public.

But they are trying - starting with marijuana, a drug that rarely means 
prison time in states such as Virginia.

"I can't remember anybody going to jail for pot in the last 15 years," said 
Richard Trodden, Commonwealth Attorney for Arlington County, Va., referring 
exclusively to possession cases. Virginia, like Alabama, treats dealers and 
traffickers much more seriously.

The first conviction for personal-use marijuana is a misdemeanor in 
Alabama. After that, possession becomes a felony no matter how small the 
quantity.

About 1,000 people each year are convicted of felony possession, and nearly 
40 percent of those are sent to prison, according to Sentencing Commission 
statistics.

The Legislature created the commission in 2000 to address Alabama's crowded 
prisons and bring about fairer sentences.

Several judges on the commission say they would prefer smarter options for 
drug users. Harsh prison sentences punish addicts, but don't appear to be 
stemming drug use.

"If the deterrent factor would work, would we have as much drug use as we 
have in this country? Doesn't everybody know how tough the drug laws are in 
this country? They really do," said Jefferson County District Judge Pete 
Johnson.

Yet proposals considered this year at commission meetings have met sharp 
resistance from district attorneys.

A suggestion discussed last month called for raising the quantity for 
felony possession to more than a pound.

Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks, who represents Alabama 
DAs on the commission, doubted lawmakers would pass such a bill, even if 
the commission was behind it.

"I think going around saying you've got a pound of marijuana and it's a 
misdemeanor is not going to sell well in Alabama," Brooks said.

Assistant Attorney General Rosa Davis, who represents the attorney 
general's office on the commission, offered some explanation. Several 
states surveyed treat personal use marijuana, no matter the quantity, as a 
misdemeanor. In Virginia, marijuana only rises to felony levels if someone 
sells it. Nebraska allows seven arrests before its a felony.

As far as legislators approving the pound limit: "I have a feeling they're 
going to look at this and laugh in my face, but if you look at what's 
happening around the country, the marijuana sentences are coming down, 
down, down," Davis said.

Brooks agreed change is needed, but the pound allowance was too drastic. 
"We're now providing folks with drug diversion, drug court, pre-trial 
diversion. ... They're getting free bites at the apple," she said. "At some 
point we've got to recognize that we're dealing with some people who are a 
threat to society."

Heightening concerns are Alabama's budget crisis and lawsuits over packed 
prisons. This year, the state doubled the size of the parole board to allow 
more early releases of non-violent felons.

"We need space in our prisons for folks who are going to do a lot more 
damage than these folks," Davis said, referring to marijuana users.

Alabama's incarceration rate is the nation's fifth highest. Alabama locked 
up 612 people per 100,000 residents in 2002. The national incarceration 
rate was 476 per 100,000 in 2002, the most recent year available, according 
to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fifteen percent of the people in Alabama prisons - 4,082 prisoners - are 
locked up on drug crimes, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Some judges on the Sentencing Commission said penalties for other drugs 
need changing also, but marijuana is a start.

"I'm in favor of making marijuana possession one time or 10 times a 
misdemeanor," said Ninth Circuit Judge David Rains, a commission member 
who's been a judge 23 years in northeast Alabama.

"Sending people to prison is not solving the drug problems. It's just 
creating an enormous financial burden on the state," Rains said.

That's what other states have decided. Minnesota, though tied with Maine 
for the lowest incarceration rate at 141 prisoners per 100,000 residents, 
has been reforming its drug sentences after a jump in the rates of people 
locked up for drugs.

Even before the change began, possession of small amounts (42.5 grams or 
less) of marijuana was always a misdemeanor. It took several arrests to get 
prison for possession, usually in combination with other crimes. Sentencing 
is on a point system with six points necessary to be considered for prison, 
said Barb Tombs, director of the Minnesota Sentencing Commission.

She came there from Kansas, after working on reforms there. The first and 
second drug arrests in Kansas now call for mandatory treatment, not prison, 
she said.

"It switched from being a prison bed issue to the right thing to do, 
because all we were doing was cycling these people through the prison 
system at a very high cost, and not treating the source of the problem," 
Tombs said.

Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens said Alabama's laws are 
appropriate, no matter what other states do.

"The worst problem with marijuana is the fact that if you ride in those 
circles, cocaine's going to be there, PCPs going to be there, the meth's 
going to be there," Owens said.

"If you go toward the idea of legalizing marijuana . . . you're going to 
put more and more kids in harm's way, because we as a society are telling 
them go ahead and do this because we're not going to do anything to you, 
and I am opposed to that course of conduct," he said.

Davis said the Sentencing Commission is not considering legalizing marijuana.

"We are looking at how our drug laws compare to other states and the 
effectiveness of those laws here and in other states. In particular, we are 
looking at marijuana possession for personal use only," she said. "The 
commission does not condone the illegal use of marijuana, nor do other 
states. We can, however, look at the penalties provided in other states and 
compare them to Alabama and look for the most effective way to protect the 
public safety."

Common ground:

Judge Johnson doubts the commission can agree on a recommendation this 
year, despite obvious flaws in current law.

One example: current law makes marijuana possession "for other than 
personal use" a felony. But it does not name a quantity. A DA in one county 
could decide three ounces, divided into smaller bags, was a felony. In the 
next county, eight ounces could be a misdemeanor.

Johnson presides over an innovative drug court that tries to treat 
addiction with treatment first, instead of prison.

"We need to punish people for the lesser offenses not as harshly, so we can 
punish people who kill people, who hurt people, who rape people, who are 
shooting people, who are shooting into people's homes and those who traffic 
in drugs, so we can put them in prison for a long time," Johnson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom