Those who think it's time to roll back sentencing for drugs might want to take in next Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing about the on-the-ground realities with one of America's most notorious drugs, heroin.
But please remember what a person puts into his own body is no one else's business. If the person happens to be an addict, on on his or her way to addiction, or is a teenager prostituting herself to get money for the next fix, or is one hit away from an overdose death, hey, look, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Here is the notice of the hearing.
And let us never forget that the retail pusher who convinces a 13-year-old girl to try it for the first time, starting her on the road to addiction and prostitution, is a "low-level, non-violent offender" and therefore should get off with a wagging finger and a "naughty, naughty, mustn't do that."
I would be very interested to hear, Bill and Kent, (1) why you think there has been a huge surge in heroin dealing and overdose deaths absent any recent changes in sentence laws and despite seemingly an increase in law-enforcement emphasis on this scourge. I also would like to know (2) whether you think enactment of even tougher (and/or more rigid) sentencing provisions should be the primary legal response to this scourge.
I will give you my take on these fronts:
(1) I fear legal drug pushers in the form of Big Pharma and lazy doctors have in recent years, through legal means, have exploited weak persons in pain and flooded the US and its citizens with very harmful opiods. They have made lots and lots of money, legally aided by privacy laws and strong opposition to regulation of medical practices based in the (false and harmful) mantra that what a doctor tells a person to put into his body is no one else's business.
(2) I view existing heroin criminal sentencing provisions as plenty tough, and making them tougher still seems only likely to increase the black market price for this drug and encourage still more persons to enter there black market to make a (tax free) buck. Intriguingly, there is emerging research that heroin use and overdose deaths are lower in states that have back off blanket marijuana prohibition. I am hopeful (but not optimistic) that Congress and other legislative bodies will seriously explore whether marijuana reform might be a sound and sensible response to the modern heroin scourge.
Doug --
As to (1): Every time the DEA tried to rein in pill-mill doctors like the ones you (correctly) describe, your friends in the defense bar would howl that "DEA agents think they know better than physicians how to practice pain medicine!" DEA certainly could have used your support.
As to (2): No one is suggesting making existing heroin sentencing tougher. The suggestion is that now, in the midst of a heroin epidemic, is a particularly poor time to make it softer.
And I hope and pray that Leahy and Bobby Scott (or Rand Paul and Sennsenbrenner) will get up on the floor of Congress and announce that they'll be introducing a bill to encourage use of pot AS A WAY TO ADDRESS THE HEROIN PROBLEM. Really. Hope and pray.