'WAR ON DRUGS' HASN'T SLOWED DRUG OFFENSES

It Has Diverted Resources From Worst Crimes; Is There Better Way?

Right now, people in this community might be in the mood to talk
about alternatives to arresting and locking up some folks who break
the law. Understandable. Crime is a real problem here. And part of
the problem is that too many criminals are getting off with a slap on
the wrist because of an overwhelmed judicial system.

Those law-breakers become repeat, and repeat, and REPEAT!!! offenders
before they get any time for their crimes. By then, far too many have
gone on to more dastardly deeds.

But a new report underscores that simply locking up some criminals
hasn't worked. The criminals I'm talking about are not the murderers,
thieves and violent assaulters whose actions demand incarceration for
public safety. I'm talking about drug offenders whose main crime is
that they are hooked on drugs.

Tackle Drug Users Differently

And here's the probable payoff for the rest of us. Tackling these
drug users in a different way -- with prevention and treatment --
would free up law enforcers to deal with those other criminals more
aggressively."The War on Drugs in America's Cities" report
(www.sentencingproject.org) was researched and presented by the
Sentencing Project. It's a national nonprofit that makes no bones
about the fact that it advocates for reforms in sentencing law and
practices, and for alternatives to incarceration. But that doesn't
make the statistics the group offers any less compelling and noteworthy.

Consider:

. When the nation's "War on Drugs" got under way full tilt in 1980,
the number of drug offenders in prison or jail was 41,100. By 2003,
the number was 493,800 -- a 1,100 percent increase.

. Forty of the nation's 43 largest cities have seen growth in drug
arrests over that 23-year period, including Charlotte, which saw a
124 percent jump. Other cities saw much higher increases. Tucson saw
an 887 percent jump; Buffalo, N.Y., a 809 percent jump; Newark, a 663
percent boost. Drug arrests vary dramatically within states,
suggesting arrests are tied to local decisions about who to charge
and incarcerate rather than drug use. For instance, in Texas, Dallas
and Fort Worth are just 30 miles apart but Fort Worth saw an 81
percent rise in drug arrests between 1980 and 2003 while Dallas saw a
42 percent decline.

. Drug arrests in the largest cities rose at three times the rate for
blacks as for whites, 225 percent compared to 70 percent. But data
from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show black drug use
is proportional to their share of the population -- about 12 percent.
Big fish too often get away Those and other statistics highlight
problems with current drug laws and practices. Additionally, jailed
and incarcerated drug offenders tend to be low-level users.
High-level traffickers and those involved in major crimes often elude
punishment.

The Sentencing Project offers these recommendations:

. Shift funding priorities to put more money toward prevention and
treatment. Too many people have access to treatment only after an arrest.

. Change law enforcement practices that use vast police resources for
low-level drug arrests. A better system might be police partnering
with social service providers to place drug users in hospitals,
shelters and treatment facilities.

. Have prosecutors use their authority to seek alternatives for drug
offenders. Also, provide public defenders resources to assess clients
and prepare a sentencing plan that can be presented as an alternative.

. Restore judicial discretion that mandatory minimum sentences have
taken away. Such policies have been a major factor in racial
disparities, and put countless people in jail for long sentences that
are disproportionate to the crime committed.

You don't have to agree with their other suggestions to embrace this
key one: "It is time," the report said, "for an honest evaluation of
the last quarter-century of domestic drug enforcement with an eye
toward learning lessons from past failures and crafting promising
solutions for the future." In Charlotte, such solutions could help
the courts and police get more of the violent and repeat criminals
off the streets. Such solutions could help all of us feel safer, and be safer.