Pubdate: Tue, 17 Oct 2006
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2006 The Arizona Republic
Contact:  http://www.arizonarepublic.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Jim Walsh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

PROPOSITION WOULD TOUGHEN METH LAWS

In the crowded list of measures on the Nov. 7 ballot, Proposition 301 
is barely drawing notice.

But it could land those convicted of first-time possession of 
methamphetamine in jail or prison.

Arizona voters in 1996 passed an initiative that made it all but 
impossible for first- and second-time drug possession defendants to 
be sentenced to jail, steering them instead to probation and drug treatment.

Now, citing the rise of methamphetamine use, backers of Proposition 
301 want voters to make an exception among drug defendants.

If passed, the initiative again would allow judges to incarcerate 
those convicted of first-time possession of methamphetamine.

It also would make successful completion of treatment a condition of probation.

Opponents say passing the resolution would waste money and backfire 
by filling prisons with drug offenders who need medical treatment, 
not expensive punitive incarceration.

They say the present law requires treatment and allows judges to 
impose jail terms for defendants who fail to comply.

"We need to take this scourge seriously," said Maricopa County 
Attorney Andrew Thomas, who backs Proposition 301. He noted that 40 
percent of inmates in county jails test positive for highly addictive 
methamphetamine.

"The idea is to give prosecutors and judges the tool so they can 
encourage offenders addicted to meth to get off the drug," Thomas 
said. "Meth has reached such proportions in our community that it 
deserves to be singled out."

The county attorney said judges should have the right to imprison 
those convicted of first-time possession of methamphetamine if the 
person convicted has a long history with the criminal justice system 
and crimes including identity theft that often are committed by 
methamphetamine addicts.

Caroline Isaacs, a spokeswoman for Meth Free Arizona: No on 
Proposition 301, said that passage of Proposition 301 likely would 
make the methamphetamine problem worse.

"The bottom line is, given (that) we have a huge meth problem in 
Arizona, why would we make treatment less likely than more likely?" 
Isaacs said.

The purpose of prison is punishment, not treatment, making 
methamphetamine possession convicts more likely to re-offend after 
they are released, said Isaacs, Arizona program director for the 
American Friends Service Committee in Tucson.

"Under the current program, if someone blows off treatment, they can 
be sentenced to prison at any time," she said. "In Arizona, our 
knee-jerk reaction is to be more punitive, rather than smart."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman