DRUG, ALCOHOL OFFENDERS INCREASE PRISON POPULATION

Almost half of the state's incoming prison population in 2001 was made up
of people jailed for drug and drunk driving offenses, according to a report
released Thursday by the state Criminal Justice Resource Center. The
report, which examined prison statistics in Fiscal Year 2001, showed that
19.7 percent of the state's incoming inmates were sent to prison for drug
possession. Another 13.7 percent were imprisoned for drug distribution and
10 percent for driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Those three categories made up the top three causes for people being sent
to Oklahoma's already crowded prison system.

"This has been the pattern since the late 1970s and 1980s," said K.C. Moon,
criminal justice resource center director. "The war on drugs has come to
dominate prison receptions."

Moon's agency gathers information about convictions from the state's 77
county courts. Offenders are logged into a statewide database based on
their most serious offense at the time of conviction.

State Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan, said the Corrections Department's recent
funding woes are directly tied to Oklahoma's drug problem -- and the lack
of treatment programs.

Askins said the state doesn't put enough money in drug treatment programs,
which in turn leads to repeat drug offenders going in and out of prison.

"I know there are times when judges sentence drug offenders to prison
because they don't have any treatment programs locally. We don't do
anything that deals with the problem where it starts."

This cycle only increases pressure on the prison system, she said.

Thursday's report comes two weeks after the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission
issued a statement predicting renewed growth in the state's inmate population.

The commission said Oklahoma's prison population would jump by 1,410 people
over the next two years. Such growth would cost the state an extra $21.1
million in inmate housing costs at a time when the department is facing
annual budget shortfalls.

Askins attributed the prison population increase to tougher sentencing
laws, aggressive investigations of methamphetamine manufacturing and the
elimination of programs for home detention.