DRUG SENTENCING BILL DESERVES CHANCE

Editor:

I want to salute Sen. Dorsey Ridley for voting for SB 245. SB 245
was a bipartisan effort to give our prosecuting attorney's and
judges more options when sentencing individuals who have been
arrested for drug related crimes. Long term residential treatment
and after-care programs are critical to returning many of these
individuals to society.

Kentucky's public defender work load is up 40 percent since 2000 and
it is primarily from the increasing number of substance abuse related crimes.

The unfortunate failure of today's system is that incarceration and
permanent felony records are the preferred method for future deterrence.

With an 80 percent chance of re-offending within a year this system
creates a revolving door at the county jail and prisons across the
Commonwealth.

Taxpayers are shouldering the burden of the increased cost of
incarceration and medical treatment for substance abuse offenders.
SB 245 creates a voluntary program takes the cost of incarceration
from somewhere around $40,000 per year to $3,000 per year plus
it places the burden of recovery on the person who will benefit
from it the most.

I encourage Rep. Gross Lindsey to support SB245 and the addition of
an emergency clause so that this optional tool can be used immediately.

Paul Herron III

Henderson