460,000 Busted for Drugs -- and Counting

Nearly one quarter of America's prisoners -- almost 460,000 people -- are behind bars for non-violent drug offenses, reports a disturbing new study released by the Justice Policy Institute, a think-tank advocating criminal justice reform.

That number reflects a staggering increase in drug-related convictions over the past decade -- from 38,541 in 1986 to 148,092 in 1996. The cost of incarcerating these non-violent drug offenders nationwide will rise to $9.4 billion this year, the report says.

"America does indeed have a drug problem," stated Justice Policy Institute (JPI) Director and report co-author Vincent Schiraldi. "And that problem is that we've focused on imprisonment as the near exclusive solution to substance abuse, while giving short shrift to treatment and prevention."

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan), used the occasion of the report's release to introduce legislation that would divert more non-violent drug offenders from incarceration to rehabilitation. "The casualties from this nation's drug war have continued to mount, with no end in sight," said Mr. Conyers. "Only by breaking the cycle of abuse, trafficking and incarceration can we find a way out of this nightmare."

"We are spending $9 billion to guarantee recidivism," a senior member of Conyers staff added. "Without intervention, these offenders will end up in jail for life or get out and become permanent SSI (disability payment) recipients."

The legislation Conyers proposed is an omnibus bill aggregating several drug reform initiatives, including more funding for treatment, alternative sentencing guidelines, greater post-treatment support, and a new program to ease the offenders re-entry into society.

In an important departure from previous legislation, Conyers' bill will vest federal judges, rather than prosecutors, with the discretion to divert non-violent offenders to treatment. Prosecutors who must choose between treatment and incarceration face a natural conflict of interest, Conyers' staff member said.

Though their actions may not yet reflect it, a wide spectrum of political players are starting to agree that treatment for drug abuse is more effective than punishment. However, the definition of "treatment" has become a contentious battleground, with legislators locking heads over issues such as who should qualify for treatment, how extensive it should be and who decides which offenders to treat, and which to jail.

Conyers' bill notwithstanding, most of these battles are being fought at the state level. In Arizona, the runaway success of a quite extensive treatment program has inspired reformers in other states to push their treatment laws further. Californians, who already have special "drug courts," will soon vote on Proposition 36, a statewide initiative that would mandate treatment over incarceration for certain drug crimes, instead of just making treatment an option.

Although Proposition 36 would save an estimated $100 million to $150 million a year, opponents of the measure argue it is the wrong approach. "Proposition 36 will seriously undermine effective drug treatment in California by preventing judges from instituting sanctions like short periods of jail time to change the behavior of uncooperative patients," said the spokeswoman for Californians United Against Drug Abuse, a group opposed to Proposition 36. These opponents describe Prop 36 as a ruse that "decriminalizes drugs" and prefer that greater funding be allocated for more treatment under the current system, in which judges divert offenders from incarceration on a case-by-case basis.

The spokesman for the California Campaign for New Drug Policies, the organization that pushed Proposition 36 onto the November ballot, denied these characterizations of the measure. "What it boils down to is that we want to make everyone presumptively eligible for treatment -- making treatment the norm, not the exception. We want to treat 95 percent of drug offenders, as opposed to the 5 percent we are treating now."