POLL SHOWS LITTLE SUPPORT FOR GILMORE'S GET-TOUGH DRUG PLAN

If Gov. Jim Gilmore is looking for a groundswell of public support for his
proposed crackdown on illegal drugs, he won't find it in a new poll of
Virginia voters.

Last fall, Gilmore said the state's drug laws, although already among the
toughest in the country, had failed to stem drug use or traffic. The
solution, he said, is to make them the toughest of all.

His $41.5 million SABRE (Substance Abuse Reduction Effort) plan would
dramatically increase many drug penalties, create a new drug eradication
division of the State Police, require drug testing of all first-time drug
offenders and provide more money to treat users.

But a new Old Dominion University/Virginian-Pilot survey found little
support for a more punitive approach to drugs.

The poll, conducted last month by ODU's Social Science Research Center,
posed two drug-selling cases and asked Virginians to pick the most
appropriate sanction. In each case, a substantial majority of the 840
people polled favored maintaining current penalties or lessening them.

In the first case -- selling 200 pounds of marijuana -- 51 percent of those
polled said 10 years in prison would be the best penalty. That accords with
current Virginia law, which sets punishment at five to 30 years.

Another 20 percent favored a lesser sanction, probation with treatment.

Gilmore's plan would confer ``kingpin'' status on a seller of 220 pounds or
more of marijuana and would mandate life in prison without parole. Only 19
percent of Virginians polled favored that option.

In the second case -- selling 2.2 pounds of heroin -- the results were
similar. The most popular penalty, 10 years in prison, was favored by 51
percent of those polled. Current law provides for five to 40 years. Another
16 percent favored probation with treatment.

Gilmore would make the heroin seller a ``kingpin'' subject to a mandatory
life term, a sanction favored by 23 percent of those polled.

In a third case, voters were asked what penalty is best for someone found
in possession of illegal drugs for personal use. The most popular sanction,
favored by 49 percent of those polled, was probation with treatment.
Gilmore's plan seeks more incarceration for repeat offenders.

One reason Virginians reject stiffer drug penalties may be that they don't
consider drugs to be a serious problem, according to those polled. Given an
array of choices for what they considered the most important issues facing
Virginia, only 2 percent rated drugs first or second.

Crime in general was mentioned by 5 percent.

Rated higher, in order of preference, were education, transportation,
taxes, economic development and health care.

Asked how effective the war on drugs has been, Virginians were split: 3
percent said it has been very effective, 41 percent somewhat effective, 25
percent somewhat ineffective and 22 percent very ineffective.

The survey of 840 registered voters was conducted Feb. 3-10. The margin of
error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Mark Miner, a spokesman for Gilmore, said the governor is convinced he's
doing the right thing.

``Drug use policy in the commonwealth should not be guided by polls,''
Miner said. ``This is a problem that affects too many young people, and the
governor is committed to fighting the problem.''

Lennice Werth, director of the drug-law reform group Virginians Against
Drug Violence, criticized Gilmore's drug plan as wrong-headed and a waste
of money.

``There's no evidence anywhere that longer prison sentences discourage drug
trade, drug use, drug whatever, in any way,'' she said. ``. . . SABRE will
not work, and we know that before we start.''

Citing Virginia's falling crime rate, state lawmakers slashed Gilmore's
plan by $16 million last month. Also, concerned about fiscal impact on the
state prison system, they have called for further study of his proposed
longer sentences for repeat offenders.

But many other provisions of the plan, including the tougher ``kingpin''
law and mandatory drug testing, have been approved in both chambers by
overwhelming margins.

Below is the index for this series of articles:

US VA: Virginia Is Paying The Price For Prison Boom
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n326/a09.html

US VA: Overbuilt Prisons Must Import Criminals
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a01.html

US VA: Virginia's Incarceration Rate Far Exceeds Crime Rate
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a02.html

US VA: Department Of Corrections Denies Information Requests
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a03.html

US VA: Drugs, Not Violence, Are The Fuel For Prison Growth
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a04.html

US VA: Expert And Inmates Find Faults In Prison Drug-Treatment
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n331/a13.html

US VA: Poll Shows Little Support For Gilmore's Get-Tough Drug
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a05.html

US VA: Blacks Imprisoned At Rate Out Of Proportion To Drug Use
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n327/a06.html

US VA: Cost Of Housing Older Inmates Goes Up As Risk Goes Down
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n328/a01.html

US VA: New Prisons Bring Much-Needed Jobs To Rural Areas
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n328/a02.html

US VA: Party And Racial Lines Divide Lawmakers On Prison Reform
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n332/a01.html