Today's Union Tribune had an article by Kristina Davis expressing concern about Prop 47 which is on the ballot this November.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/18/election-proposition-47-drug-possession-punishment/
Prop 47 will mandate the reduction of penalties for minor crimes...including, of course, drug possession.
The police departments and prosecutors are all against this proposition. They have a relatively good argument that addicts may need some sort of threat of punishment in order to get them motivated to go through treatment. Of course, I believe the police and prosecutors are also trying to protect their own "industry" --they recognize that if they can't prosecute people for the minor crimes, there will be less need for their services. The prosecutors may have brought this problem on themselves. They abused the "three strikes law" that was meant for three "violent" crimes and began using it for drug offenses too. They say that threat of punishment is necessary to get people to treatment, however the police and prosecutors throughout California have not used that "threat" to get people to treatment, but have pushed people into prisons for minor offenses.
Kristina Davis also didn't discriminate between drug offenses for marijuana vs other, more dangerous drugs. The prosecutors would want to push even people arrested for marijuana possession to drug treatment because the laws have arbitrarily put marijuana into the same category as other drugs. .
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/18/election-proposition-47-drug-possession-punishment/
Prop 47 will mandate the reduction of penalties for minor crimes...including, of course, drug possession.
The police departments and prosecutors are all against this proposition. They have a relatively good argument that addicts may need some sort of threat of punishment in order to get them motivated to go through treatment. Of course, I believe the police and prosecutors are also trying to protect their own "industry" --they recognize that if they can't prosecute people for the minor crimes, there will be less need for their services. The prosecutors may have brought this problem on themselves. They abused the "three strikes law" that was meant for three "violent" crimes and began using it for drug offenses too. They say that threat of punishment is necessary to get people to treatment, however the police and prosecutors throughout California have not used that "threat" to get people to treatment, but have pushed people into prisons for minor offenses.
Kristina Davis also didn't discriminate between drug offenses for marijuana vs other, more dangerous drugs. The prosecutors would want to push even people arrested for marijuana possession to drug treatment because the laws have arbitrarily put marijuana into the same category as other drugs. .
