TREATMENT

Change Emphasis Of State's Drug Policy

Good for the Kansas Sentencing Commission for developing a new state drug
policy that emphasizes treatment. But good luck getting the Legislature to
approve it -- though the state's budget problems might help lawmakers
overcome their fear of appearing soft on crime.

The commission's proposal -- which it is still finalizing and plans to
present to the Legislature next year -- calls for mandatory treatment for
nonviolent and small-possession drug offenders, instead of incarceration.
That makes a lot of sense.

As the commission's preliminary report notes, the current system hasn't
been very successful; it mostly keeps recycling the same drug offenders
through the court and prison systems.

In addition, drug sentences tend to be out of whack compared with other
crimes. For example, the Lawrence Journal-World noted that it is possible
for someone convicted of a third possession of a small amount of cocaine to
serve almost as much time as someone convicted three times for rape.

To make this policy change, there need to be more treatment facilities and
better supervision of drug offenders. But the biggest obstacle is
lawmakers, who rarely do what makes sense when it comes to drug policy.
Instead, they pass harsher and harsher penalties, hoping to improve their
image with voters.

Yet besides getting better results, putting more emphasis on treatment
could save the state a lot of money, especially in the long term. The
commission estimates that the change could free up between 400 and 800
prison beds, which cost about $20,300 per year per inmate.

As lawmakers scramble to find ways to reduce state spending, they need to
realize that we can't afford to keep a costly drug policy that is neither
effective nor efficient.