WEAKER DRUG PENALTIES BAD IDEA FOR MICHIGAN

A carefully crafted message that encourages liberalized drug laws is
reported to be working its way to Michigan. Let no one be misled by this
propaganda. Michigan does have tough drug laws, but they are not excessive.

The exception might be an old law that made a life sentence mandatory for
anyone convicted of possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams -
about 1.4 pounds - of cocaine or heroin. But in 1998, the mandatory minimum
was reduced 15 to 20 years.

While that is no light sentence, it must be considered in the context that
650 grams would entail someone selling drugs. Even with that judges can
depart from the mandatory limit for a compelling reason, and some exercise
that discretion. There is no reason to weaken drug laws any further.

The push to do so would come in the aftermath of a California ballot
proposal that passed last month. Sixty-one percent of voters favored
requiring treatment rather than incarceration for first- and second-time
drug offenders.

That might be the best option in many cases, but judges ought to have
discretion, and not be subject to a blanket dictum of voters ruling out
consideration of individual circumstances.

The victorious billionaire backers of the California initiative like the
idea of moving on to Michigan and Ohio, where drug laws are strict and
ballot initiatives common. University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, New
York philanthropist George Soros and Ohio insurance executive Peter Lewis
hope to work through the Michigan chapter of Families Against Mandatory
Minimums serving as a their front group.

Michigan residents who might be tempted by their message should realize
judges here rarely incarcerate people for drug possession; that penalty is
meted out almost exclusively to dealers.

They should also bear in mind that most house burglaries and violent crimes
are compelled by the drug trade. When life gets ugly on the streets, drugs
are the reason. The false message spreading from California would only make
it uglier.