OWENS COOL TO FREEING DRUG INMATES

Plan Would Put Savings Into Treatment Programs

Gov. Bill Owens expressed skepticism Wednesday about a plan aimed at
freeing up prison space by putting nonviolent drug offenders into treatment
programs instead of behind bars. The governor doesn't think there are a lot
of inmates behind bars in Colorado who don't deserve to be there, said
spokesman Dick Wadhams.

"Gov. Owens does not (subscribe) to the so-called theory of nonviolent drug
offenders," Wadhams explained. "There's a reason why people are sentenced
to prison in Colorado -- it's because they belong there."

The state's district attorneys say they'll have to be convinced as well,
but are keeping an open mind on the idea being pushed by Sen. Ken Gordon,
D-Denver.

Gordon is a member of an interim panel studying sentencing.

An estimated 75 percent of the nearly 17,000 inmates now in state prisons
have drug and alcohol dependency problems, according to the Department of
Corrections.

There are 1,714 prisoners serving time for drug possession; 52 of those
appear to be first-time offenders.

"The district attorneys are willing to listen," said Peter Weir, executive
director of the Colorado District Attorneys Council. "The district
attorneys recognize there may be a better way of doing business."

Even Gordon insists he's not saying that any of the people now in prison
don't belong there. What he wants to do is divert money to the front end --
when people first are caught with drugs -- and put them into programs that
will keep them from getting into worse trouble and into prison.

Possession of any amount of heroin or cocaine and certain other drugs is
now a class 3 felony, the same as armed robbery or sexual assault, Gordon
explained. He wants to reduce that penalty.

"I'm not talking about any case where there is evidence of a person selling
drugs," he said. "If a person has a drug problem, we could reduce the level
of that offense and use some of the money saved from prison cells to put
more money into treatment."

Gordon said he won't go forward with the bill before the interim committee
unless he can get the district attorneys to support it.

Sen. Ken Arnold, R-Westminster, a member of the interim committee and a
retired Colorado State Patrol officer, said those now being imprisoned
"really have to work at it to get there."

He said he had a constituent call to complain about a relative facing a
prison term for a simple drug charge, but when he investigated, the man had
an 11-page rap sheet.