Reform Drug Laws

YOU ARE RIGHT REGARDING “NO YOU’RE WRONG”

Anyone working in drug treatment for any period of time has become familiar with the oddity that lots of community resources are devoted to catching the drug users and locking them up without much effect on the tide of drug abuse or much return to the society that is footing the bill. This article says it all.

“No You're Wrong: Reform state drug laws or leave them alone”

“The draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws have been on the books for 35 years and they have failed to curb drug use, drug sales and drug trafficking.
Yet what they have accomplished is arguably nothing short of dastardly.
These laws have been aimed primarily at minority offenders, further broadening the gap between races.
They have forced judges to mandate costly incarceration for low-level dealers and non-violent addicts, and prevented meaningful rehabilitation.

They have torn apart families, robbed children of mothers and fathers and in some ways assured these children a life of poverty and substance abuse.
My colleague may think that important information has been gained with the threat of harsh sentences looming over their heads; but the truth is that people without information to give were instead given the hardest time of all. And that, in my opinion isn't justice. That is how racism continues to flourish.
My colleague may think that the Drug Law Reform Act of 2004 corrected some of the law's flaws, but it didn't go far enough.
It didn't restore judicial discretion. It didn't fund alternatives to incarceration, such as more beds for drug treatment, and it didn't significantly reduce sentences.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance Network, the DLRA did not significantly lower prison populations, and in fact, the number of people incarcerated non-violent drug offenses increased in 2006 to 6,039 as compared to 5,657 in 2004.
Furthermore, the state Department of Correctional Services has not expanded drug treatment in prison, as required.
The thing is we have to stop looking at drug addiction as a crime and look at it as a societal ill. We must make its treatment -- medically and mentally – a priority if we ever want to see a reduction in the true crimes that drugs cause. We must stop equating being smart on the drug problem as being soft on crime. They are not one in the same.”
— Siobhan Connally

For the entire article and the opposing view, go to http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/01/23/opinion/doc49791ade2d9e5494335761.txt
Narconon works to get addicts help before they get caught up in the legal system. Whether it is cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin or pot abuse, the abuser can be helped before it is too late. 877-413-3073