REDRAWING THE BATTLE LINES IN A 'FAILED' WAR ON DRUGS

OLYMPIA - For much of the past two decades, state Rep. Christopher Hurst
was a soldier in the nation's so-called war on drugs.

As a Seattle-area narcotics investigator, Hurst chased drug dealers all
over the country. Once, using his skill as a certified pilot, he posed as a
drug runner and flew loads of cocaine from Los Angeles to Seattle. He
handled thousands of cases and took part in hundreds of drug busts. He can
recount specific raids in down-to-the-kilo detail.

Hurst feels good about putting so many drug offenders behind bars. But,
like numerous public officials across America today, he is convinced the
war on drugs has failed.

"The failure is this: We did not deal with demand reduction," said Hurst,
who is serving his second term in the House but still works as a commander
in the Black Diamond Police Department. "Until we reduce demand, we will
never make progress."

The push is on to do just that. Right now, there are four bills afoot in
the Legislature that would reduce the penalties for drug crimes and put
more emphasis on treatment and prevention programs.

A state sentencing commission is expected to propose similar changes later
this year. The King County Bar Association has a task force studying the
issue. Meanwhile, there are indications Washington could be next in line
for a ballot initiative filled with the sweeping reforms approved by
California voters last fall.

The call for reform is coming from Republicans and Democrats, public
defenders and prosecutors, judges and jailers. Some of the state's most
prominent law-enforcement officials, including King County Prosecuting
Attorney Norm Maleng, are pushing for changes.

Perhaps the clearest signal of a shift in public sentiment is the fact that
so many elected officials, ever fearful of being labeled "soft on crime,"
now feel safe talking about easing drug laws.

"People are saying, 'Enough is enough. This war on drugs is nuts,' " Hurst
said. "Even in the most conservative areas, people are saying we've gone
down the wrong road."

A preference for prison

As in other states, prison has long been the weapon of choice in
Washington's assault on drugs.

In past 15 years, the number of people sent to state prisons for drug
crimes increased 15-fold, and the effect on county jails has been even
greater. The average prison stay for people convicted of drug crimes has
nearly doubled.

Yet the drug problem persists, and the costs continue to mount. More
addicts. More arrests. More inmates.

A study released last month showed the state spends $1.5 billion a year
cleaning up problems stemming from substance abuse.

Still, there are some people who are not ready for major changes in the
state's drug policies. They are leery of softening tough drug laws that
they say have benefited communities. And they are skeptical whether
substance-abuse treatment works as well as proponents claim.

"I'm one of those who believe tougher sentencing laws helped us clean up
the streets, and I'm not willing to retreat from them," said Yakima County
Prosecutor Jeff Sullivan.

But such voices are rapidly being pushed aside by those calling for a new
approach.

Ken Stark, director of the state Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse,
uses three measures to illustrate what he calls the failings of the
lock-'em-up strategies of the past 20 years.

"Drugs are more available than they've ever been before; they're more
potent than they've ever been before. And they're cheaper than they've ever
been before," Stark said. "We need a more balanced approach." Reversing -
or at least rethinking - drug policies has become a hot topic from coast to
coast.

In recent months, Republican governors in at least seven states - including
New York's George Pataki, New Mexico's Gary Johnson and Idaho's Dirk
Kempthorne - have called for putting more drug offenders into treatment and
fewer behind bars.

But the most sweeping changes so far resulted from the "treatment instead
of incarceration" citizens initiatives approved overwhelmingly in Arizona
and California.

Here and elsewhere, the movement is being driven as much by economics as by
social policy. With so many low-level drug offenders being locked up,
states are feeling the pinch of soaring prison budgets. More than a fifth
of Washington's inmates are locked up primarily on drug charges.

Some drug-war critics also contend that most drug and property crimes are
committed by addicts who are trying to support their habit - and that it
makes more sense to treat those people than to imprison them. During a
recent study in King County, about 70 percent of people arrested on all
crimes tested positive for some type of illegal drug.

Treatment gains momentum

Meanwhile, more and more people in the criminal-justice system are becoming
convinced that drug treatment works, even when it is forced on offenders.
The statistics vary, but a number of studies show that addicts who get
treatment are less likely to commit crimes.

"We know more today than we did 10 or 15 years ago," said state Corrections
Secretary Joseph Lehman. "The research is much more definitive."

While Washington has already made some revisions to its drug sentences and
taken steps to boost treatment for drug offenders, there is a growing
consensus that more reforms are needed. But there is disagreement over the
details: how far to go in easing sentences, what drug crimes to include and
how to cover the increased treatment costs.

Hurst, the police officer and lawmaker from South King County, is helping
the state Sentencing Guidelines Commission review drug sentences and said
lawmakers should wait for that report in December before overhauling the
drug laws.

"We need to do this right," Hurst said.

Others, however, don't want to wait. Maleng and some lawmakers are worried
that if they don't act soon on some sort of reforms, the door will be left
open for a ballot initiative like California's Proposition 36.

Under the California initiative, which goes into effect this summer,
nonviolent drug offenders will be sentenced to treatment instead of prison.

Already, the new law is facing a barrage of criticism from prosecutors,
police, judges and others in California who say it does not give them
enough of a hammer to force offenders into treatment. They also say the
state does not have the resources and programs in place to handle the
estimated 36,000 drug-addicted offenders who would be steered to treatment
instead of prison.

One of the proposals pending in Olympia is fashioned after the California
initiative. Though it will be the first of the drug-reform measures to get
a hearing when it comes up tomorrow in the House Criminal Justice and
Corrections Committee, the bill's sponsor says chances of passage are slim.

"I realize something this drastic is not going to pass," said Rep. Mary Lou
Dickerson, D-Seattle. "I'm just trying to jump-start the discussion."

Maleng will push a different approach Monday, when he and an entourage of
people involved in Washington's criminal justice system are scheduled to
appear in Olympia.

Maleng's plan

Maleng's proposal, which has been introduced in the House and the Senate,
would lop six months off the current 21- to 27-month minimum sentence for
first-time offenders charged with manufacture or "delivery" of cocaine or
heroin, but not methamphetamine. The plan would free up an estimated 2,300
prison beds and more than $50 million over six years.

The savings from unused prison beds would be funneled to counties so they
could expand drug-offender treatment programs. The state Department of
Corrections analyzed a proposal similar to Maleng's and estimated it could
provide treatment to an additional 30,000 drug offenders over six years.

Counties could use the new money to start or expand drug courts, which give
some drug offenders a choice between treatment or incarceration. If an
offender succeeds at treatment, the charges are dismissed. If he fails, he
goes to jail.

But supporters of a ballot initiative say Maleng's proposal doesn't go far
enough, and they aren't confident the savings in prison beds would generate
enough to cover the expense of treatment.

Bellevue attorney Jeff Haley and others favor reducing sentences for first
time offenders to 12 to 14 months, which would free nearly twice as much
money as Maleng's plan.

If Haley's group decides to go ahead with an initiative, it will likely
have some high-powered backing. Investment billionaire George Soros, who
helped finance the California initiative, has given an undisclosed sum of
money to the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to help push for
drug-law reforms.

ACLU lobbyist Gerard Sheehan said Maleng's plan does not go far enough to
head off an initiative.

"Norm is just seeking to keep control of the thing," Sheehan said. "But he
and others are way behind the national curve on this thing."