Drugs

SD Families First

l3wis December 3, 2012 3Comments

This is a new lobbying organization one of my friends is helping out with. Check them out!

sdfamiliesfirst.org

Here is a letter to the editor, explaining the group‘s mission.

Sheriff Mike Milstead recently announced the Department of Justice will visit our county jail in December to review the growing inmate population. Meanwhile, a work group has completed a review of our state’s prison population at the governor’s request — launching a discussion around many needed reforms.

The magnitude of this issue is truly alarming. I am very concerned about the over-incarceration crisis because we arrest twice as many people as our neighboring states, despite having a similar crime rate. The arrest rate has increased by 400 percent for women since the early ’80s, about the same time we embraced the “war on drugs” and started locking up a record numbers of nonviolent drug users. Although well-intended, this approach actually fuels the cycle of crime, poverty and addiction and makes the public less safe.

The clear connection between our punitive drug laws and skyrocketing arrest rates should prompt a serious discussion about how we handle drugs. I urge our community leaders to consider decriminalization and treating problematic drug use as a health care issue for the family and community, not the police and courts.