Pubdate: Tue, 07 May 2013 Source: Sonoma Index-Tribune, The (CA) Copyright: 2013 Sonoma Valley Publishing Contact: http://www.sonomanews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/415 Author: David Bolling Page: B2 CRIMINALIZING POSSESSION IS NOT A SOLUTION Statistics rarely reveal the entire truth about anything, and numbers can be compiled and interpreted to confirm different conclusions from the same set of facts. But that caveat notwithstanding, virtually any statistical analysis of the war on drugs leads to an inescapable conclusion: It has been a hopeless failure. The Global Commission on Drug Policy has reported that in the decade between 1998 and 2008, global use of opiates increased more than 34 percent, cocaine use rose by 27 percent and marijuana consumption grew by 8.5 percent. By most estimates, the United States leads the world in illegal drug consumption. In 1980, there were some 500,000 people in U.S. prisons. By 2009 the number topped 2 million. Today, almost half (47.3 percent) of the nation's roughly 197,000 federal prisoners are serving time on drug charges, and of California's current prison population of some 119,000 (down from a peak of 171,000 inmates in 2007), about 24 percent are serving time for drug convictions. And that doesn't take into account the 74,000 people in California's county jails. The annual cost of the war on drugs in the U.S. is estimated to be $ 51 billion. We don't know the annual drug arrest statistics for Sonoma County, but judging from a review of daily arrest logs and our knowledge of arrests in the City of Sonoma and the Springs, we would estimate something over 25 percent of overall Valley arrests involve either drugs or alcohol. All of which continues to confront us with a profound dilemma. Without question, hard drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin, along with the seemingly limitless pharmacopeia of prescription drugs in illegal use, pose a critical threat to public health and safety, and contribute significantly to crime. If you've ever met anyone hooked on meth, you know the ruinous results of that addiction. But it has become increasingly clear that criminalizing simple possession takes us nowhere near a solution to the problem, and the endless cycle of arrest, probation, probation violation, re-arrest, incarceration, parole, arrest, probation, violation, re-arrest is an expensive form of social insanity. There must be a better way. Which is one reason we're encouraged by the bill passed out of the California State Senate last week SB 649 that grants prosecutors the flexibility to charge relatively minor, non-violent drug possession as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The proposed law does not apply to people charged with selling, manufacturing or possessing drugs for sale. Its author, Mark Leno, observed in a recent press release, "One of the best ways to promote lower crime rates is to provide low-level offenders with the rehabilitation they need to successfully reenter their communities." Instead, he said, "current laws do just the opposite. We give non-violent drug offenders long terms, offer them no treatment while they're incarcerated, and then release them back into the community with few job prospects or opportunities to receive an education." Leno's bill doesn't absolve dealers, it could save counties $159 million a year, according to the Legislative Analyst's office, and 13 other states treat simple possession as a misdemeanor without increased drug use. It's a small step, but a wise one. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt