In a bold move of flat-out idiocy, the Texas Attorney General declared that the people working on needle-exchange programs can be prosecuted and jailed for possession of drug paraphernalia. No kidding.
So, let's see if I get this straight - this guy is allowing prosecution of an outreach program that helps to stem the growth of AIDS and other IV-transmitted diseases in an effort to fight the war on drugs. Right? Right.
Sorta.
See, what's going on here is that the legislature allowed this to happen, and the attorney general is just interpreting the law by its letter. It seems they'll allow it to go all the way to court just to get a better interpretation. They are prosecuting three volunteers from a needle-exchange program just to get through this.
These three citizens are only trying to help people - and they're being made examples of. The prosecution even has the ability to choose NOT to prosecute- and they're prosecuting anyway.
At some point, will someone PLEASE stand up and say something along the lines of "hey guys, could we maybe, you know, stop being complete douchebags about this war on drugs stuff? Maybe we could spend better money, you know, treating this as a medical issue and actually helping addictions instead of blowing our money on the prosecution of, say, people trying to stem the spread of HIV and such. I'm just saying, y'know?"
Of course, we all know that's not happening.
The safety-moms will freak out and kill any politician who even hints at being soft on drugs, because OHMYGOD if the crack is legal my Johnny ain't smart 'nuff to avoid smokin' it!!
Argh.
UPDATE:
First, there's an excellent writeup of the actual details here by someone who knows what they're talking about a bit better than I do. Special thanks to Tracey in the comments for pointing me there, and to Anonymous (also in comments) for further explaining the situation.
Esentially, the prosecutors are being complete jerks. That's what it boils down to.
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if you read the bill and understand the legislative intent, the legislators did not get it wrong. they did not legislate a "option" for people to get arrested, they said san antonio may operate a pilot needle exchange program and the prosecutors opposed it beyond sanity. who is the head prosecutor going to side with? the legislators who worked on this bill worked extremely hard and moved a very difficult issue, gaining the majority support in the house and the senate. it's the DA who messed it up.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, and changes things a touch. I suppose I should have laid the entire thing on prosecutors being schmucks (which they are), but the way the article itself reads, it looks like this issue was left open to interpretation by the legislature.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much time today to do further research on the bill, so if you'd care to post some links I'd love to read them when I get a chance.
links- i don't have links- i have first hand knowledge of the issue, having lobbied it for the last 3 years. it was defiantly 'interpreted' but it was a political interpretation-one as you note, motivated by a determination to remain fixed to a system of dealing with drug addition that does not work
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteLet me see if I understand this correctly, then:
1: Legislation is passed which revamps parts of the drug codes in the state.
2: An interpretation of part of the new bill could serve to be used by overzealous prosecutors.
3: 3 people get arrested and will be prosecuted under that interpretation.
This interpretation was NOT an intended interpretation of the bill by the Texas legislature, correct? If that's the case, judges likely will be able to shut this down rapidly (assuming the defense attorneys are any good, and the judge has backbone).
That all said, it would be nice to know who you are and where you came from, if you're claiming first-hand knowledge. :)
(actually I would be interested to know how you found this post)
good short post from a guy who's followed the legislation from the start. http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2008/05/texas-ag-lege-intended-prosecution-of.html
ReplyDelete