MARIJUANA MAY NET LESS TIME IN PRISON

(AP) - A state commission that is reviewing Alabama's sentencing laws is
looking at how other states send fewer people to prison for the personal
use of marijuana.

The Alabama Sentencing Commission figures that Alabama spends about $4
million a year locking up marijuana users who would not go to prison in
many states.

"Sending people to prison is not solving the drug problems. It's just
creating an enormous financial burden on this state," said Circuit Judge
David Rains of Fort Payne.

Rains, a circuit judge for 23 years, is a member of the commission that
former Attorney General Bill Pryor got the Legislature to create in 2000.
The commission is working on ways to make Alabama's sentencing laws fairer
and to make sure sentences for similar crimes don't vary greatly from one
part of the state to another.

The judges, prosecutors and state leaders on the commission say Alabama's
drug laws need fixing, but they haven't been able to agree on changes that
might fly with the Legislature and the public.

They are beginning their work with marijuana.

"I can't remember anybody going to jail for pot in the last 15 years," said
Richard Trodden, commonwealth attorney for Arlington County, Va., referring
exclusively to possession cases. Virginia, like Alabama, treats dealers and
traffickers more seriously.

The first conviction for personal-use marijuana is a misdemeanor in
Alabama. After that, possession becomes a felony no matter how small the
quantity.

About 1,000 people each year are convicted of felony possession in Alabama.
Nearly 40 percent of these are sent to prison, according to Sentencing
Commission statistics.

Several judges on the commission say they would prefer more options for
drug users. Harsh prison sentences punish addicts, but don't appear to be
stemming drug use.

"If the deterrent factor would work, would we have as much drug use as we
have in this country? Doesn't everybody know how tough the drug laws are in
this country? They really do," Jefferson County District Judge Pete Johnson
told The Birmingham News.

The commission has discussed trying to set a weight limit for misdemeanor
personal use -- such as a pound -- but has reached no agreement.

"I think going around saying you've got a pound of marijuana and it's a
misdemeanor is not going to sell well in Alabama," Montgomery District
Attorney Ellen Brooks said.

Other approaches have also been discussed.

"I'm in favor of making marijuana possession one time or 10 times a
misdemeanor," Rains said.

In Kansas, the first and second drug arrests call for mandatory treatment,
not prison. In Minnesota, drug possession usually must be combined with
other crimes before a drug user goes to prison.

Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens said Alabama's laws are
appropriate, no matter what other states do.

"The worst problem with marijuana is the fact that if you ride in those
circles, cocaine's going to be there, PCPs going to be there, the meth's
going to be there," Owens said.

Any changes in Alabama's marijuana sentencing laws would require
legislative approval. Johnson said he doubts the commission can agree on a
recommendation this year.