ADDICT TREATMENT CAN EASE JAMMED JAIL CELLS

Florida's outdated sentencing practices for non-violent drug offenders
must change.

That has long been the conviction of Harold Koenig of Satellite Beach,
president of H.E.A.R.T., an acronym for Help Early Addicts Receive
Treatment.

Koenig has met a brick wall in efforts to convince Gov. Jeb Bush and
state legislators that first-time drug offenders should receive
treatment instead of incarceration.

But Koenig is absolutely correct, and recent Justice Department data
about swiftly rising prison populations nationwide only underscores
the urgent need for sentencing reform.

Some 2.1 million inmates were in U.S. prisons last year, up 2.6
percent from 2000. Furthermore, a third of all states have seen a 5
percent annual jump in inmate numbers.

Florida prisons are jammed too, which is why Bush is now asking the
Legislature to spend an additional $60 million to cover some 2,695
unexpected inmates projected to enter the system by year's end.

What kind of prisoners constitute the bulk of those increases? Inmates
sentenced drug-related charges. Drug offenders count for half of all
inmates in the federal system, and a preponderance of recent Florida
prisoner increases as well.

Many of those are nonviolent, first-time offenders caught by
mandatory, get-tough sentences imposed in recent decades.

The economic costs of jailing instead of treating those offenders is
huge, the payoff nonexistent. Treating an offender costs roughly
$4,500 annually, while keeping an addict in jail costs up to $20,000 a
year.

And building a single jail cell costs about $100,000, according to the
Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization promoting reform in
prison policies.

Those burdens fall on taxpayers, as do social costs associated with
jailing addicts, such as disruption of family life, which creates a
need for social services and perpetuates cycles of poverty.

That's why some states -- including Texas and Ohio -- that passed drug
treatment laws or reversed sentencing mandates haven't seen the
exploding prison populations others have and thus substantially
lowered their costs.

Florida must follow their smart example by diverting first-time drug
offenders treatment programs.

That will only happen if Bush, whose daughter Noelle was allowed to
get treatment for addiction instead of jail time, realizes what has
been good for her would be good for other non-violent drug offenders
as well.