Drug Addicts Need Treatment Not Incarceration

Instead of receiving treatment many drug addicts in the U.S. are incarcerated in state of federal prisons. The past three decades have brought changes in sentencing for drug offenses, some of which critics call racist. The harsher sentencing laws have not led to higher incarceration rates for high-level drug dealers. Currently, only 5.5 percent of all federal crack cocaine defendants and 11 percent of federal drug defendants are high-level drug dealers, according to U.S. Sentencing Commission reports.

In 1972 President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." Fourteen years later, Congress enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences, which included tougher penalties for crack cocaine than powder. Crack cocaine is the only drug in which possession of it results in a mandatory five year sentence. Two-thirds of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic, but 82 percent of people incarcerated for possessing it are African American.

In 1986 African Americans had federal drug sentences that were 11 percent higher than for whites. Four years later, African Americans had federal drug sentences that were 49 percent higher. In 2004, the US Department of Justice statistics revealed that 45 percent of all state prisoners serving time for drug offenses were African American and 26.4 percent were white.

Drug sentencing reform needed

Last June Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) called for the U.S. national drug-control policy to be overhauled. "Despite the number of people we have arrested, the illegal drug industry and the flow of drugs to our citizens remain undiminished," Webb said.

In Webb's book A Time to Fight, he wrote that "The time has come to stop locking up people for mere possession and use of marijuana ... Drug addiction is not in and of itself a criminal act. It is a medical condition, indeed a disease, just as alcoholism is, and we don't lock people up for being alcoholics."

The Drug Policy Alliance Network mentions a concept on its website called "harm reduction," which it defines as "a public health philosophy that seeks to lessen the dangers that drug abuse and our drug policies cause to society." One of the main goals of harm reduction is treatment for drug addiction rather than incarceration.

Restorative justice aims to restore offenders to society, making it a good fit for non-violent drug offenders. The Roosevelt Institution describes restorative justice philosophy as "the idea of human bonds." Restorative justice "offers a more effective method of combating drug addiction and drug related crime than incarceration."

The Roosevelt Institution recommends that sentencing circles be implemented which include the drug offender's family, friends, judges, attorneys, social workers, and community members. The sentencing circle works to create a plan for the offender that "can work for all parties and is based upon the community's shared values." The drug offender will have access to counseling and support as a result.

Implementing sentencing circles would save taxpayers money. States spent $44 billion on prisons in 2007. States could reallocate the money that is already spent to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders. State and federal laws concerning drug crimes sentencing would need to be revised in order for states to implement such programs.

San Diego has what it calls collaborative justice courts. The courts "promote accountability to the community by combining judicial supervision with treatment and other rehabilitation services that are rigorously monitored and focused on recovery," according to the website CourtInnovation.org.

Obama and drug sentencing reform

In January President-elect Barack Obama will take office, along with a Democratic Congress that will have a larger majority in the Senate, and continued control of the House of Representatives. Obama's previous remarks indicate there is hope for drug sentencing reform.

"If you're convicted of a crime involving drugs, of course you should be punished, but let's not make the punishment for crack cocaine that much more severe than the punishment for powder cocaine when the real difference is where the people are using them or who is using them," Obama said on September 30, 2007 while speaking at Howard University.

In Obama's campaign booklet, Blueprint for Change, disparities in drug sentencing laws are cited as a problem. The booklet states that Obama will "give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior."

Politics Factzone: The truth about Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il, the leader of the free world, has decided to move on to more fertile grounds, leaving with us just the memories of 8-color rainbows, singing Korean women and couple of nuclear weapons. But who was this man whose next ambition would have been to get the next Nobel Peace prize? Here are just a few facts you should know about. more Top 5 Conspiracy Theories Related to John F. Kennedy's Assassination 26.Aug 2011 Since just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theories abou...read ISRAEL KEEPING GHADDAFI AFLOAT 10.Mar 2011 ...read Glen Beck Is NOT the Anti-Christ! 10.Mar 2011 Hurtful and fiery rhetoric is now media’s default setting! This slippery and m...read Recipe for A REVOLUTION! (10 easy steps - try not to get burned!) 28.Feb 2011 Rebellion is cooking in the air. People are mad as hell, and not going to take...read THE ASSANGE CASE. CIA INTERFERED WITH SWEDISH LEGAL PROCESSES EXTREME RIGHT POLITICS A DANGER TO EUROPEAN UNITY THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY. OUT OF TOUCH, OUT OF FOCUS, OUT OF CREDIBILITY AND HOPEFULLY, OUT OF THE DOOR Opinion World governments charged with criminal negligence (in response to Megaupload case) EARTH (thecheers.org) - Federal authorities of the universe have charged the governments of all the countries in the world as well as the operators actually in power in these countries with operating a criminal enterprise, the Galaxy warriors announced Today. more The Great OSCARS 2011 – or so it would seem 5.Mar 2011 So, how exciting......a morning off, the Academy Awards. I wish I could say the...read Top 7 Expensive Bordellos. Prostitution: Shakedown, Tier Down, and Priced Out 31.Jan 2011 According to a report of the Washington DC-based US Department of State, The Ph...read The Great Secret and Reason for the JFK Assassination 11.Oct 2010 The great question is why the great secret? On June 4 1963, President Kennedy s...read Don't Do it! The 3 Worst Times to Get Tattoos 4.Oct 2010 As a general rule, tattoos gotten after 2 am are a bad idea. But in a bigger pi...read

Travel Travel Warning 13 September 2010 - DO NOT TRAVEL TO IRAN 13.Sep 2010 TRAVELWISE has been watching the situation in Iran for some months in relation ...read more TRAVELWISE TRAVEL ADVISORY 5th June 2010. DO NOT TRAVEL TO ISRAEL. 5.Jun 2010 Given the recent incident whereby the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, used...read TRAVELWISE. 16 APRIL 2010. EUROPEAN TRAVEL ALTERNATIVES 16.Apr 2010 Travelwise issues the following advice in relation to cancelled flights to, fro...read TRAVELWISE 6 APRIL 2010. AUSTRALIAN AIR TRAVEL. THE BEST WAYS TO TRAVEL BY AIR IN AUSTRALIA. 5.Apr 2010 Regular readers might have seen and read the various advisory and no-fly notice...read TRAVELWISE 2 APRIL 2010. QANTAS. 2.Apr 2010 Some concerns have been raised in relation to some of the maintenance practices...read Sport No Payoff From the Playoffs $16.50 will Get Anyone in the Hall Mr McGwire Stupid Athlete Tricks Technology Think Big! Think the World's Largest International Trade Show Top 9 cool laptop accessories for laptop geeks Twittering: I'm not that interesting Cheers Jesus' Answering Machine Brown Couch or twelve midgets in the town square How To Be Happy Drugged Out Saturday Nights Muslim Decapitation: Bad, or Simply Misunderstood?