Marijuana Policy Project

When a respected felony criminal judge known for his lock-'em-up philosophy concludes that slamming minor drug offenders with long sentences is counterproductive to sensible prison management and public safety, perhaps it's time for Harris County to listen.

And when that judge's advice -- to provide drug abusers with treatment options while focusing policing efforts on major offenders -- squares with best practices in other counties, perhaps it's time for Harris County to change its crime-fighting ways.

Recently, state Judge Michael Mc-Spadden called on the governor and Legislature to reduce sentences for low-level drug possession. In a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, the judge, a former prosecutor with more than 20 years' judicial experience, wrote, "These minor offenses are now overwhelming every felony docket, and the courts necessarily spend less time on the more important, violent crimes."

The result has been that small-time offenders, some accused only of possessing residual amounts of cocaine in a crack pipe, are clogging local jails. In fact, there were almost two times as many Harris County defendants sent to state jails last year for possessing less than 1 gram of a drug -- less than the contents of a sugar packet -- than in all of the major urban counties of Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar combined. Possession of less than 1gram of a drug is a felony that often lands people in state jail for six months to two years.

District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal says he has no discretion under state law to charge a person caught with pipe residue with anything less than felony possession. "We don't get to make the facts. We don't get to change the law," he says.

But McSpadden doesn't see it so rigidly; neither do prosecutors in other urban counties. He says those caught with crack pipes should be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and probation.

Meanwhile, the Harris County jail and local state jail are so crowded that Commissioners Court is considering spending at least $267 million to build two new jails. Plus, it costs Texans more than $59 million to house more than 4,800 offenders convicted of possessing less than 1 gram of a drug, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice figures. An inordinate number of those prisoners came from Harris County.

Worst of all, neighborhoods do not appear to be any safer from drug dealers, drive-through buyers and loitering addicts. Such crimes make residents of some neighborhoods and apartment complexes fear going to nearby parks or even venturing out.

Police say they arrest low-level users as a crime deterrent. That may be. But once in custody, addicts would be better served by improved options for drug treatment outside prison, while they remain under court supervision and fulfill requirements to be employed or get training. County officials should use some of the millions they are thinking of lavishing on new jail construction to fund such programs.

After all, the ill effects on a community of committing huge numbers of prospectless drug addicts to lengthy jail sentences and felony records without dealing with their underlying drug dependence are well-documented and long-term. And those ill effects are suffered by everyone in this county.