PRISONER RELEASE

Gov. Ben Cayetano is reported to be ready to sign a bill today that would
offer drug treatment to non-violent first time offenders of drug-related
crimes in lieu of jail time. The goal of the bill is to ease the
overcrowding in the state's prisons. Some 300 prisoners might be released
once the bill is in place. The bill is being driven by the fact that the
state is facing lawsuits over overcrowding in prisons.

The cost of the drug treatment programs are about half the cost of sending
someone to prison, according to retired Circuit Judge Masato Doi.

It's estimated that up to 85 percent of those incarcerated in Hawai'i's
prisons are in for crimes related to drug abuse or alcohol abuse, and a
sizable number of this group are on a merry-go-round of jail terms related
to their substance abuse.

The treatment instead of time plan would do good for some first- timers.
However, the danger is that without a stiff penalty for first- time drug
arrests some users won't take the law as seriously as they should.

Liberalizing drug laws could push some early stage users past where they
would be stopped in abusing drugs through the threat of a jail term,
creating greater long-term problems.

As the bottom line of the concept behind the bill is the cutting back on
the number of prisoners in state prisons, this strategy could back fire.

However, the bill has the governor's blessing and should be given a chance
to see if the new system both cuts back on drug use, and lessens the head
counts in our prisons. But if drug use goes up and the prisons stay as
crowded as ever stiff penalties for drug-related crimes should be
reinstated for good.