Drug Law Revisions

For some reason, the Times of Trenton has not seen fit to post yesterday's column by George Amick* about the bills in Our Fair State's legislature about revising our drug laws. Here's what he said:

Imagine that New Jersey had a law that resulted in the imprisonment of thousands of nonviolent offenders - most of them minorities- at a high cost in taxpayer dollars and wasted lives, had no measurable effect on crime, robbed judges of the discretion that is that sole reason we have judges at all and was opposed by prosecutors throughout the state. Wouldn't the Legislature repeal it as quickly as it could assemble a quorum?
You'd think so. But our legislature has a selective sense of urgency.

(What a great line- a selective sense of urgency.)

New Jersey has had such a law for more than two decades and the law has produced all the toxic effects described above. A bill that would moderate some of these effects has been introduced in the Senate, where a majority is thought to favor the reform, but no one seems to be in a big hurry to advance it.

Mr. Amick goes on to describe the lost wages that those incarcerated could have produced as opposed to spending the money to incarcerate them, the unfair Drug Free School Zone laws that increase sentences whether there were children around or not and how dense urban areas fall entirely into these areas, and how the laws have shown to have no benefit whatsoever.

The bills our esteemed Mr. Amick mentions to eliminate the unreasonable drug laws is A 2762 and S 1866, sponsored by Assm. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Sen. Ray Lesniak, respectively. They should be furthered, debated and made into law. Ours is a failed drug policy that isn't helping keep our kids or our streets safe and is costing us a fortune in the process. It's time to revise it.

*Amick isn't listed as one of the Times of Trenton's columnists anymore, either. Since I'm looking at a paper from yesterday where his "Capital Talk" column is printed, I know he is- or was, as of yesterday? What's going on?

Stupidest quote of the week

In Our Fair State, stupid quotes are pretty much the norm. However, it's already Wednesday, and I haven't seen anything to compare with the sheer silliness of this one from Sunday's Times of Trenton:

"Reducing the zones would have our children pass through a (phalanx) of drug dealers every day," said (Trenton) school board Vice President Alexander Brown. "This would bring drug trafficking 800 feet closer to our schools. Some legislators believe the zones have placed a hardship on drug dealers. To me, I say 'tough.'"

Yep! That's it! Legislators want drug dealers to have an easier time. That's the reason they want to reduce the size of the drug-free school zones and increase the penalties! Because our legislators just love the drug dealers!!

Or, it could be that the law targets minorities in our cities (where nearly every street is in a zone), unfairly chokes our prisons with non-violent offenders who could go to rehab, and hits offenders with two punishments for the same crime. Truly, if you think the penalty zone has restricted the amount of drug dealing in our cities, you had better check your facts.

At least some more logical minds had a few reasonable things to say:

"The Legislature is trying to address discriminatory practices," said Trenton board member T. Missy Balmir, referring to the study. "I think we need to be careful before we take a stand on this issue. I would like more information on how our city is truly affected by drug-free zones."
According to the commission, 96 percent of people jailed for dealing drugs within the zones are black or Hispanic. The commission argued two years ago that drug- free zones do not hinder drug sales near schools.
"If 96 percent of the people incarcerated under the drug-free zone law are black or Hispanic -- groups that only make up 20 percent of our state's population -- it's not a fair system," said Roseanne Scotti, director of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey.
"Plus, there is no evidence that drug-free zones hinder drug sales," Scotti said. "Basically, this law amounts to two different penalties being given for the same exact crime -- the only differences between the two penalties are geography and race."
...
"I think that's an economic drain for the state of New Jersey, among issues of fairness," said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson- Coleman, D-Ewing, who has introduced a bill to keep the drug-free zones at 1,000 feet while giving judges more discretion in sentencing.
"Was the person dealing drugs to students? Was school even in session when they were arrested?" Watson-Coleman said. "The judge should be able to determine the impact on society, the appropriate remedy, and then sentence accordingly."

Imagine that- a judge being able to determine impact and a remedy. Um, dare I say?- to judge. Then maybe clearer-thinking heads will prevail.

No one is saying drug dealing is a good thing. What is being said is that it's time to revisit a failed drug policy- one of many in our country. Kudos to the legislators and school board members who took the time to find out the facts about the effectiveness of these policies. Hopefully they can come up with a more effective and maybe more logical plan of attack on those who would prey on our children.