Drug treatment won't cost

Drug treatment won't cost

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Even when it appears the sky is falling -- and the prospect of the state budget hole deepening by as much as a couple hundred million dollars fits that bill -- the Legislature must do more than make sure the state operates in the black.

It must make progressive policy decisions that last beyond the two-year budget cycle.

Such is the challenge that confronts the House, possibly as early as today, as representatives decide whether to shift strategies in a domestic war that many have come to believe is a lost cause -- the war on drugs.

A vote for HB2338, which is similar to legislation adopted by the Senate last year, would create a new funding stream for local drug treatment programs at a critical time. Courtesy of Initiatives 695 and 747 and the recent economic downturn, the counties have exactly zero dollars to expand treatment. Even as drug addiction continues unabated, the counties will count themselves fortunate to be able to offer the slots they now have.

They can't expect help from the state, which is so broke that the T-word (taxes) is starting to gain currency.

It will require a stiff spine and a judicious eye toward the long term -- not the near-term fall elections -- for some members of the House to support this sensible course correction. Why? Because the dedicated fund for treatment -- part and parcel of the novel but already proven drug court approach -- would come from savings generated by reduced prison terms for certain non-violent drug offenders.

Last session the "soft on crime" tag almost sank this progressive legislation in the Senate; undoubtedly it's why the bill wasn't debated by the full House.

What reluctant House members must consider, as they weigh doing what's right against the chance some of their more conservative constituents will retaliate at the ballot box, is that sentences for the possession and sale of cocaine and heroin are already more severe here than in many other states, thanks to a botched late '80s attempt to reform drug policy.

Then, while doubling penalties for offenses involving these drugs, the Legislature implemented a special tax on bottled beverages; the proceeds were to build local treatment centers. The next year, legislators repealed the tax, essentially gutting the treatment component.

It's payback time. If legislators pass up this opportunity to redirect the war on drugs to emphasize treatment, they risk a citizen initiative that could be much more unpalatable than losing a few votes come September.

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