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Possession busts driving increased drug arrests: States tired of footing the bill

Will Texas join a growing number of states adjusting their drug laws to save money and focus criminal justice resources on more serious offenders? If they did, this blog has argued it would save many millions of dollars at both the state and county levels. Most opinion leaders think the Lege isn't "ready" to reduce drug sentences. Perhaps so, but I think it's also true they're not "ready" to handle the budget gap that's facing them. Desperate times call for bold measures, which is why, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal a week or so ago: A growing number of states are renouncing some of the long prison sentences that have been a hallmark of the war on drugs and instead focusing on treatment, which once-skeptical lawmakers now say is proven to be less expensive and more effective...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 11, 2011 (boomark / email).