Reforming the way Oklahoma handles criminals would go a long way toward solving the state's fiscal problems. For example: If Oklahoma reduced its incarceration rate to the national average, about $138 million could be saved annually. What's the shortage in schools? About $158 million.

In other words, if the state spent less on boarding miscreants, it could spend more on education and the consensus is that spending more on education would mean fewer criminals.

One might argue that the expenditures on imprisonment are worth it because the policies keep crime down.

[continues 77 words]

A new federal study underscores what Oklahomans already know but have done little to change: The state has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. The U.S. Department of Justice study had one bright spot: Oklahoma is one of a few states reporting recent declines in inmate populations.

Only Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have higher incarceration rates.

And the state still has the highest female incarceration rate in the country.

Oklahoma is well known for its strong law-and-order attitudes. But it's likely that not everyone in prison should be there. Many nonviolent drug offenders should be treated rather than punished.

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TULSA, Okla. - The lines are fuzzy in the Colombia drug war. The administration of President Andres Pastrana needs support - financial and political - from the United States, but under the current aid package, that support is misguided.

Pastrana is fighting a civil war with Marxist guerrillas who are closely tied to the drug traffickers in Colombia and control almost half of the country. It is difficult to fight one without fighting the other. But the United States should make it clear to Pastrana . . . that the $1.3 billion in aid is for fighting the drug trade, not the guerrillas.

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