Post by mikekerstetter on Jul 8, 2012 4:18:13 GMT -5
dailyitem.com/0110_editorials/x1437858656/US-needs-to-rethink-drug-policy
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA
July 5, 2012
US needs to rethink drug policy
Daily Item
---- — There are hints that if he is re-elected, President Barack Obama will declare war on the War on Drugs in his second term.
It would be overdue.
Our existing drug policies are an expensive failure. The drug war has contributed to a building boom for prisons as the population in state prisons has increased more than 500 percent over the past three decades. The Department of Corrections estimates that 30 percent of its inmates are serving time for drug offenses. That does not include other crimes, such as theft, murder or assault, that are drug-related. Pennsylvania's prison population increased more in 2009 than any other state's, according to an investigation by the auditor general.
By the end of 2010, there were 51,321 people in state prison, half of whom were black. There are twice as many white inmates incarcerated in state prison for sex offenses as drug crimes. In contrast, there are 10 times as many black inmates incarcerated for drug crimes as sex crimes.
Statewide, the number of inmates per 100,000 people jumped from 147 in 1986 to 404 in 2010. All of the Central Susquehanna Valley has rates below the statewide average, but when adjusting for population size, Union and Snyder counties have higher rates of incarceration than Northumberland County.
In all, there were an average of 1,031 Valley offenders locked up each day in 2010 -- two-thirds of them in state prison.
County governments and their prison boards have been struggling to adjust with alternative sentencing arrangements that combine drug counseling with court supervision. The Northumberland County Court has adopted treatment courts. Union County has moved forward by seeking to provide less expensive alternatives for low-risk offenders, such as drunken drivers and shoplifters.
The counties are responding appropriately but the broader solution must come from Washington and Harrisburg. The federal government must develop an alternative to the war on drugs to stem the tide. The state government ought to investigate why Pennsylvania's prison population is increasing at a rate faster than the rates of most other states. We will not solve the problem of prison overcrowding by targeting shoplifters. We must find the political courage to face the problem at its source before people inside the prison are plainly too expensive for the people outside to support.
The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA
July 5, 2012
US needs to rethink drug policy
Daily Item
---- — There are hints that if he is re-elected, President Barack Obama will declare war on the War on Drugs in his second term.
It would be overdue.
Our existing drug policies are an expensive failure. The drug war has contributed to a building boom for prisons as the population in state prisons has increased more than 500 percent over the past three decades. The Department of Corrections estimates that 30 percent of its inmates are serving time for drug offenses. That does not include other crimes, such as theft, murder or assault, that are drug-related. Pennsylvania's prison population increased more in 2009 than any other state's, according to an investigation by the auditor general.
By the end of 2010, there were 51,321 people in state prison, half of whom were black. There are twice as many white inmates incarcerated in state prison for sex offenses as drug crimes. In contrast, there are 10 times as many black inmates incarcerated for drug crimes as sex crimes.
Statewide, the number of inmates per 100,000 people jumped from 147 in 1986 to 404 in 2010. All of the Central Susquehanna Valley has rates below the statewide average, but when adjusting for population size, Union and Snyder counties have higher rates of incarceration than Northumberland County.
In all, there were an average of 1,031 Valley offenders locked up each day in 2010 -- two-thirds of them in state prison.
County governments and their prison boards have been struggling to adjust with alternative sentencing arrangements that combine drug counseling with court supervision. The Northumberland County Court has adopted treatment courts. Union County has moved forward by seeking to provide less expensive alternatives for low-risk offenders, such as drunken drivers and shoplifters.
The counties are responding appropriately but the broader solution must come from Washington and Harrisburg. The federal government must develop an alternative to the war on drugs to stem the tide. The state government ought to investigate why Pennsylvania's prison population is increasing at a rate faster than the rates of most other states. We will not solve the problem of prison overcrowding by targeting shoplifters. We must find the political courage to face the problem at its source before people inside the prison are plainly too expensive for the people outside to support.
