Both Sides Agree: Let’s Not Jail Addicts

There’s a piece in the San Francisco Gate on a proposal that would reduce the charge for all drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor. According to this story, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón is backing the idea, as is San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne.

“I think everybody sort of had this secret belief that—I probably shouldn’t say this out loud if I ever want to have dinner with my Republican friends again—but in the privacy of the voting booth, I’d support that,” the piece quotes a political strategist who is working on the bill as saying.

Great Progress

It’s a thrilling piece all around—especially the quote from Lenore Anderson, the executive director of an organization called Californians for Safety and Justice: “There’s a feeling of, let’s go after recidivism through the treatment option.”

They’re still discussing issues around amounts (does the guy with an ounce get the same compassion as the guy with a gram?) but let’s hear it for people coming around to understand that incarcerating non-violent addicts doesn’t do anybody any good.

Photo courtesy of  Adam Jones, Ph.D. (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons