Drug Prosecution

SAVE MILLIONS THROUGH PRE-BOOKING DIVERSION

Monday's editorial calling for a public health approach to drug use
and abuse ("King County budget: Rethink drug laws") was right on the
mark. In 2007, Washington law enforcement reported 30,992 arrests for
drug offenses, and roughly 85 percent were for possession only.
Treating drug use and addiction as a crime is an expensive and
ineffective waste of our scarce public resources. We could save
millions in criminal justice costs through "pre-booking diversion,"
which allows police officers to route low-level drug offenders to
services instead of jail and the courts. Pilot projects in Seattle
have shown promising results in terms of reduced recidivism, safer
communities and changed lives. King County can lead by developing and
implementing alternatives to the failed "war on drugs." Expanding
pre-booking diversion programs throughout the region would be a smart
policy that makes good fiscal sense.

Alison Holcomb

Drug Policy Director ACLU of Washington

Seattle