News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: Column: Battle On Drugs Might Need New Strategic Plan |
| Title: | US TX: Column: Battle On Drugs Might Need New Strategic Plan |
| Published On: | 2000-08-25 |
| Source: | Amarillo Globe-News (TX) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 11:15:28 |
BATTLE ON DRUGS MIGHT NEED NEW STRATEGIC PLAN
If we are really serious about drinking and driving, why do we allow bars to have parking lots?
Kevin works at a bank. He has a degree in business from a state university. He and two buddies share an apartment. Each month they pay a late fee to their landlord, which causes much bickering among his mates. He owes five years' payments on an expensive sports car. (Cops hate sports cars.) His Visa stays almost maxed out.
Kevin has just received his first promotion and a small raise. Thank God, it's Friday. Calls for a celebration.
Ashley runs a computer and answers the phone in a big law firm. She has an associate's degree from a community college. She still lives at home and drives an old car furnished by Dad. Her salary is small, however, and she pays late fees on most of her bills.
Ashley plans to meet some girlfriends after work. Hey, it's Friday, time to unwind.
It's happy hour all across the city. Most of the popular gathering places have more in common than differences. There is loud canned music; expensive mixed drinks, beer and wine; and a free snack bar. There is a lot of table-hopping.
Kevin flirts with Ashley. They leave together, get into his car and drive away with the top down.
There is only one small problem. Both have blood-alcohol levels that surpass the state limit to be legally driving. (Most of the drivers leaving the bar are probably just as drunk.)
If Kevin is stopped by a cop, he will be given a Breathalizer test, be taken to jail and charged with driving under the influence. Should he refuse the test, his license will be automatically suspended.
If this is his first offense, Kevin will be fined and possibly placed on probation for a few months - no big deal, if he stays clean. But if he gets caught a second time, things get a bit more serious. Suspension of driver's license and/or county jail time are possible. A third time, and we're talking about felony charges and a year or two as a guest of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Even Democratic politicians are tough on crime. We're on a jail-building spree to house a record number of Kevins, with the exception that most inmates are poor, minority and uneducated. Kevin's parents were affluent enough to hire good lawyers. But occasionally the system works, and middle-class kids get unlucky and draw an unsympathetic jury.
This is not a good career move for an aspiring young banker. When he gets out, on parole, the bank will not welcome him back. His parole officer will be a hard-nosed martinet who thinks his job is to catch a felon in a minor infraction and send him back to TDCJ.
What are the odds of Kevin staying clean? Not very good. He can't legally drive. A good job is not available. His car was repossessed. He has defaulted on his debts. Ashley is now living with a tennis pro and won't return Kevin's calls. He has problems that would drive most men to drink - which he proceeds to do, landing back in the clutches of TDCJ.
Fine, you say. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
There's just one tiny problem: TDCJ is full. Even though we have just completed a large expansion, we can't keep up with the demand.
When the Legislature meets in January, one of the first committee hearings will be concerned with more beds for TDCJ.
More than half of the inmates are incarcerated for drug-or booze-related offenses. A big percentage are there for addiction to alcohol. Many who are incarcerated for burglary, theft and other petty crimes were merely supporting their need for a supply of their poison of choice.
Is there a better way? It costs an average of $25,000 to house one inmate for one year. We could send them all to Harvard for less (though the courts might declare that to be cruel and unusual punishment).
Maybe it's time to try a different approach.
A tough boot camp run by retired Marine drill instructors might work on selected inmates, or halfway houses where inmates could work at useful jobs and check in at night, undergo rigid urine tests and return to useful citizenship sooner. For the truly incorrigible, TDCJ could be the final solution.
If it worked, taxpayers would save a great deal of money, there might not be a need for more jails and there might be fewer wasted lives.
If we are really serious about drinking and driving, why do we allow bars to have parking lots?
Kevin works at a bank. He has a degree in business from a state university. He and two buddies share an apartment. Each month they pay a late fee to their landlord, which causes much bickering among his mates. He owes five years' payments on an expensive sports car. (Cops hate sports cars.) His Visa stays almost maxed out.
Kevin has just received his first promotion and a small raise. Thank God, it's Friday. Calls for a celebration.
Ashley runs a computer and answers the phone in a big law firm. She has an associate's degree from a community college. She still lives at home and drives an old car furnished by Dad. Her salary is small, however, and she pays late fees on most of her bills.
Ashley plans to meet some girlfriends after work. Hey, it's Friday, time to unwind.
It's happy hour all across the city. Most of the popular gathering places have more in common than differences. There is loud canned music; expensive mixed drinks, beer and wine; and a free snack bar. There is a lot of table-hopping.
Kevin flirts with Ashley. They leave together, get into his car and drive away with the top down.
There is only one small problem. Both have blood-alcohol levels that surpass the state limit to be legally driving. (Most of the drivers leaving the bar are probably just as drunk.)
If Kevin is stopped by a cop, he will be given a Breathalizer test, be taken to jail and charged with driving under the influence. Should he refuse the test, his license will be automatically suspended.
If this is his first offense, Kevin will be fined and possibly placed on probation for a few months - no big deal, if he stays clean. But if he gets caught a second time, things get a bit more serious. Suspension of driver's license and/or county jail time are possible. A third time, and we're talking about felony charges and a year or two as a guest of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Even Democratic politicians are tough on crime. We're on a jail-building spree to house a record number of Kevins, with the exception that most inmates are poor, minority and uneducated. Kevin's parents were affluent enough to hire good lawyers. But occasionally the system works, and middle-class kids get unlucky and draw an unsympathetic jury.
This is not a good career move for an aspiring young banker. When he gets out, on parole, the bank will not welcome him back. His parole officer will be a hard-nosed martinet who thinks his job is to catch a felon in a minor infraction and send him back to TDCJ.
What are the odds of Kevin staying clean? Not very good. He can't legally drive. A good job is not available. His car was repossessed. He has defaulted on his debts. Ashley is now living with a tennis pro and won't return Kevin's calls. He has problems that would drive most men to drink - which he proceeds to do, landing back in the clutches of TDCJ.
Fine, you say. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
There's just one tiny problem: TDCJ is full. Even though we have just completed a large expansion, we can't keep up with the demand.
When the Legislature meets in January, one of the first committee hearings will be concerned with more beds for TDCJ.
More than half of the inmates are incarcerated for drug-or booze-related offenses. A big percentage are there for addiction to alcohol. Many who are incarcerated for burglary, theft and other petty crimes were merely supporting their need for a supply of their poison of choice.
Is there a better way? It costs an average of $25,000 to house one inmate for one year. We could send them all to Harvard for less (though the courts might declare that to be cruel and unusual punishment).
Maybe it's time to try a different approach.
A tough boot camp run by retired Marine drill instructors might work on selected inmates, or halfway houses where inmates could work at useful jobs and check in at night, undergo rigid urine tests and return to useful citizenship sooner. For the truly incorrigible, TDCJ could be the final solution.
If it worked, taxpayers would save a great deal of money, there might not be a need for more jails and there might be fewer wasted lives.
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