THE SHIFTING DRUG WAR

The Pendulum Is Swinging Back From Stiff Mandatory Sentences For Drug
Offenses.

Not long ago, Christie Donner was seen as a fringe figure in state
politics, advocating unpopular changes in the stern laws that form the
centerpiece of Colorado's part in the nation's War on Drugs.

Donner, director of the Colorado Prison Moratorium Coalition, argues
that Colorado's prison-building boom has been an expensive mistake.
Her belief that Colorado chooses to imprison thousands of drug addicts
while failing to adequately fund drug treatment programs is at odds
with the rhetoric of politicians who promise to get tough on drugs.

But now Donner is at the center of a campaign to change the drug laws
in Colorado to emphasize treatment, rather than prison time, for addicts.

"The public doesn't feel it's effective to put drug addicts in
prison," says Donner. Just locking up drug offenders for mere
possession is "not dealing with drug abuse as a health problem."

"So many people have histories of abuse and untreated mental illness,
and they use drugs to cope," she continues. "Why can't we help these
people turn their lives around?"

While the number of prison inmates in Colorado has more than doubled
in the past decade, to more than 15,000 last year, Colorado spends
little to treat drug addicts behind bars or on the streets. Even
though an estimated 75 percent of inmates have substance-abuse
problems, only half of them receive treatment. Outside of prison,
treatment options are even more scarce. Colorado spends less money on
substance-abuse treatment than most states; as a result, only 20
percent of those who need treatment receive it.

Today in Colorado, there are 3,226 people in state prisons on drug
charges. Of those, 1,714 inmates -- just over half -- were convicted
of drug possession. And sentences aren't mere slaps on the wrist. For
example, someone arrested with even a tenth of a gram of an illegal
drug can be charged with a Class 3 felony, the same as for armed
robbery and sexual assault. It costs the state more than $44 million
per year just to keep those 1,714 drug users behind bars.

But effective treatment programs can do more than just save money.
Some states have found that comprehensive treatment of those arrested
on drug charges also reduces the rate of recidivism by 25 to 30
percent. In addition, says state senator Ken Gordon, "If you can get
somebody off drugs, they won't commit the ancillary crimes they do to
support their habit."

Gordon is sponsoring groundbreaking legislation that would alter the
penalties in Colorado for those convicted of possessing less than one
gram of an illegal drug. Instead of receiving mandatory prison
sentences for a first offense that can range from four to sixteen
years, users would be directed into drug treatment programs. The money
the state would save could support both public and private treatment
programs. Gordon estimates the law would keep a hundred people per
year out of state prison, freeing up $2.6 million that could be used
to treat hundreds of addicts.

The bill was recently okayed by a joint legislative committee studying
criminal sentencing in Colorado and will be considered by the full
legislature next year. And lawmakers are expected to pay attention.
With prison costs taking up an ever larger share of the state budget,
some legislators question whether the enormous amount of money going
to pay for the prosecution and imprisonment of drug offenders is being
spent wisely. Since the TABOR amendment to the state constitution
restricts the growth of the state budget, more money going into
prisons means less money for schools, health care and other needs.

"In 1981-82, the corrections budget was $39 million. Now it's $478
million," says Gordon. "The corrections budget has increased at a 15.3
percent rate every year for the last decade. We're incarcerating some
people we don't need to."

Gordon worked hard to win support for his legislation from Colorado's
district attorneys, a majority of whom endorsed the bill. Denver
District Attorney Bill Ritter and Adams County District Attorney Bob
Grant both testified in favor of the proposal.

"The main impetus for me is our present inadequate treatment
resources," says Ritter. "There are places in this state where there
is no treatment available."

Several Republicans on the committee joined Democrats to back the
bill, but Gordon still isn't certain he will win the support of a
majority of legislators or of Governor Bill Owens. So far, the
governor has proved hostile to the idea of changing state drug laws.

"The governor remains skeptical of proposals to reduce sentences for
so-called victimless drug crimes," says Dick Wadhams, Owens's spokesman.

Wadhams says it's almost unheard of for someone to receive a prison
sentence for a first-time charge of possession. He says most of the
people in prison for possession have been arrested more than once and
have often committed other crimes, such as burglary, to support their
habit.

"It's difficult to be sentenced to prison in Colorado," says Wadhams.
"The actual conviction may be for drugs, but there's usually a lot of
other things involved as well. The governor doesn't believe that there
are people in prison who have been found guilty of possession just one
time."

Wadhams says the governor hasn't taken a position on Gordon's bill,
but he makes it clear that Owens is wary of the idea of shifting
drug-law violators out of prison and into treatment. He says the
declining crime rate in recent years is proof that locking people up
makes the streets safer.

"As incarceration has increased, crime has gone down," says Wadhams.
"When people wind up in prison in Colorado, there's a good reason for
it."

Gordon probably won't be able to get his bill through the legislature,
predicts state senator Ken Arnold of Westminster.

"It might pass in the Senate, but I don't think it has much chance in
the House," says Arnold, who voted against the proposal in committee.

Arnold believes Colorado's current sentencing laws are appropriate and
have helped to reduce the crime rate. He also says many drug addicts
don't want to be treated.

"There are lots of drug treatment programs available," says Arnold. "I
don't think reducing the sentencing will solve any of our problems."

Politicians in Arizona and California were similarly hostile to the
idea of changing their state laws, but that didn't stop voters from
approving initiatives that are far more radical than what Gordon has
proposed. Both of those states now mandate treatment for most drug
offenders and have largely scrapped prison sentences for simple
possession. In California alone, an estimated 30,000 drug offenders
per year will be diverted from prison into treatment programs, saving
the state as much as $250 million per year in prison costs.

Last year, California voters approved Proposition 36, which requires
that anyone convicted of simple possession of an illegal drug be sent
to treatment instead of prison. The measure, which passed with 61
percent of the vote, appropriates $120 million annually for treatment
services. State analysts estimate that California will save $500
million in prison construction costs as a result of the new law.