Putting Heroin Users in Jail Won't Help Louisiana's Crime Rate

(Brennan Center for Justice, via Truthout) Louisiana - and our nation - has seen a surge in heroin crime. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, heroin use has climbed steadily since 2007. Law enforcement officials across the nation are reporting an increase of high-purity heroin available at the street level. In Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William "Beau" Clark has testified that from 2012 to 2013 heroin deaths jumped seven-fold, from 5 to 35. So far this year he's confirmed seven opiate overdoses with two more pending, a pace equivalent to last year's.

Louisiana is hardly alone. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has declared the opioid addiction epidemic a public health emergency. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin devoted his entire State of the State address in January to heroin, calling it "a public health crisis."

Note the language. Policymakers are speaking about addiction as a public health problem, not a law enforcement one. Indeed, even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said that strict, mandatory minimum drug sentences should be reserved only for "high-level or violent drug traffickers."

For better or worse, we now know what works in the "war on drugs," a war that even tough-minded former prosecutors such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, have called a "failure." It is not draconian prison sentences for drug offenders that "win" the "war," but addiction treatment. Not only is it cheaper, it reduces recidivism. It also takes less of a toll on the community. One in 28 children currently has a parent behind bars, and one in every five state prisoners nationwide is serving time for a drug offense, which, Holder points out, "is not just financially unsustainable, it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate." ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/23125-putting-heroin-users-in-jail-wont-help-louisianas-crime-rate