Drug bill: Keep worst offenders off the streets, treatment for others

By SARA CASTELLANOS
The Aurora Sentinel
Friday, March 5, 2010
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2010/03/05/news/metro_aurora/doc4b8ff8fc92f80530885309.txt

AURORA | A bill that focuses on rehabilitating drug offenders instead of locking them up for years in prison has gained support from some local officials, but others say it might send the wrong message to communities.

Under House Bill 1352, which was introduced in the state House on Feb. 23, drug offenders' jail sentences would be decreased and the savings would go toward rehabilitation programs. The proposal lowers the penalty for illegal use of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and illicit prescription drugs, and also lowers the penalty for people in possession of marijuana. The savings from the lower penalties would be flowed into local rehabilitation and community-based treatment programs aimed at preventing and curing drug addiction.

17th Judicial District Attorney Don Quick said the bill is a crucial piece of legislation that would curb the recidivism rate of drug offenders but would still keep the worst drug offenders off the streets.

When parolees get out of jail, 50 percent commit another crime within three years and more than 60 percent reoffend within five years, said Quick, who was part of the commission to help develop the bill.  

"I believe that the best public safety (method) is to prevent crime from occurring in the first place," Quick said. "If you can have effective treatment so they're not reoffending, everybody wins. The state wins and the taxpayer wins."

About 20 percent of Colorado's prison inmates are drug offenders who are either dealers with large quantities of drugs or repeat offenders, Quick said, and more than 75 percent of all offenders have substance abuse issues with alcohol and drugs.

Under the bill, drug offenders who are caught with between one and four grams of illegal drugs could face up to 18 months in prison, which is a Class 6 felony, as opposed to the current penalty, which is up to six years in prison and a Class 4 felony. Those who are in possession with between eight and 12 ounces of marijuana would face up to 18 months in jail, a Class 1 misdemeanor, rather than the current penalty of up to six years in prison and a Class 4 felony.

The bill's primary sponsors are Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs and Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, and the bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. Carroll could not be reached for comment. The bill has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee but has not been calendared for a hearing yet.

The bill's opponents said that lowering drug offenders' jail sentences isn't appropriate.

"This is giving the message out to our kids that drugs are okay," said Beverly Kinard, who is the founder of the Christian Drug Education Center and grew up in Aurora. "Legislators are listening to the drug legalizers and they're looking for tax dollars, but we don't go out there and just destroy the lives of our young leaders of tomorrow for the sake of tax dollars."

Other opponents said the bill wouldn't produce any savings at all.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said the bill would actually reduce funding for drug treatment. He said that currently, a majority of state funding for rehabilitation and treatment comes from surcharges associated with felonies. For example, he said, if a drug offender is charged with a Class 3 felony, the person will have to pay a surcharge of $3,000. If a drug offender is charged with a Class 6 felony, which is a lesser penalty, the surcharge is $750.

"It's counterproductive in that it makes less treatment dollars available to help people get clean and sober," Morrissey said. "These drug addicts, if they're truly drug addicts, need treatment. You shouldn't be passing laws that are going to reduce the treatment dollars that are scarce now in the state of Colorado."

Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora, says the bill is important in that the justice system needs to rethink its sentences for drug offenders.

"I do think it makes sense and I know that other states have reworked how sentencing versus rehabilitation is handled," she said. "They have seen dramatic improvements in their numbers for prison populations so I think it's a good idea and I think its one that we need to keep pursuing."

Christie Donner, founder and executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, said the bill reinforces the idea that rehabilitation for drug offenders should be a top priority.

"The research is really clear that you get a better bang for your public safety dollar with a treatment plus supervision strategy," said Donner, who also helped develop some of the recommendations for the bill. "Incarceration (produces) a negative return on your investment."

In fiscal year 2008, there were about 22,900 adult substance abusers and 200 youth offenders jailed in Colorado, and 80 percent were identified as needing substance abuse treatment, according to a study by the Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Behavioral Health.

According to the study, the total cost per day for incarceration of substance abusers is estimated at $1.45 million.

By putting drug offenders in treatment programs, it would also reduce burglary and theft crimes that people commit in order to support their drug habit, Donner said.

Also, she said, local treatment programs would have great benefits as a result of this bill.

"Cost savings from corrections would be reinvested in treatment programs available in the community at the local level," she said. "I think it has potential to impact statewide in terms of enhancing the treatment services."

David Murphy, chief executive of the Arapahoe House, which specializes in rehabilitating drug offenders and has two locations in Aurora, said he is an advocate of the bill because he has seen the positive impact of drug rehab programs first-hand.

"I think it's a very smart bill," he said. "It's a smart way to spend money in rehabilitating people as opposed to putting them in prison because treatment and rehabilitation does help break the cycle of crime as it's associated with substance abuse."

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