MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK IN DRUG-OFFENDER CASES

THE old axiom about being tough on crime is giving way to a new, more
sophisticated saying: smart on crime.

Even if you don't give a hoot about criminals in far-away prison cells,
even if you typically favor the harshest criminal penalties possible, know
this: Our state is spending ridiculous sums of money to imprison nonviolent
drug offenders who would be better served by treatment.

House Bill 1006, authored by state Rep. Ida Ballasiotes, frees judges from
tough mandatory sentences for drug crimes and allows them to use their
judgment to split a sentence between prison and treatment time.

It's a poorly kept secret that certain sentencing laws make judges feel
like robots. This bill allows the state to get to the root cause of many
crimes - addiction - and help many offenders become productive members of
society.

This is not some neo-liberal, hug-a-criminal approach. The bill is backed
by prosecutors, judges, corrections officers and lawmakers.

Ballasiotes, the Mercer Island Republican whose daughter was murdered by a
convicted sex offender, is one of the Legislature's most respected experts
on criminal-justice issues. She wisely differentiates between violent or
sex offenders and people clogging prisons because they can't or won't get
treatment.

"There's a lot of us who think we should save our prison space for our
most-violent offenders, and these aren't them," she says.

The numbers back her up. Drug offenders make up one-quarter of the state's
prison population. It costs the state $23,000 to house an inmate each year.
The prison bill is the fastest-growing piece of the state budget.

Drug treatment doesn't always work. A Rand Corporation study found only 1
in 8 regular cocaine users who undergo treatment stop. Still, that results
in a greater reduction in use at far less cost than prison.

If rehabilitation works with just some offenders, how many college
scholarships could be purchased? How many salmon streams could be restored?

Washington is not alone in reevaluating some long-held precepts of the war
on drugs. Barry McCaffrey, the four-star general who heads the National
Drug Control Policy Office, recently told the New York Times the country
can't incarcerate its way out of the drug problem. More than a
quarter-million of Americans in prison for drug offenses could be better
dealt with in treatment programs, he said.

HB 1006 passed the state House 97-0 and ought to ride through the Senate
with similar ease and enthusiasm.

The state can do a better job of managing prison costs and redirect money
to other priorities by allowing more flexibility and common sense in
sentencing nonviolent drug offenders.