Steve Burns
WMAL.com
ANNAPOLIS – Del. Kathleen Dumais sees no foreseeable road blocks on the final day of the Legislative Session Monday to passage of her top priority – a sweeping overhaul of how Maryland deals with drug offenders and prison sentences.
“This goes back to the fact that the War on Drugs hasn’t worked,” Dumais told WMAL. “Which is where the mandatory minimums came from. It was ‘Oh my Gosh, drug use is a scourge. We just need to put everybody in prison.’ Well, that hasn’t worked.”
Dumais said the underlying premise of her bill is to “use public safety dollars more effectively,” which she said has brought a bipartisan group of legislators together to support it. A conference committee worked through the weekend to hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions.
The bill repeals some mandatory minimum sentences, increases the likelihood a low-level drug offender will be sent to treatment instead of jail, and allows some inmates the possibility of an earlier release.
The bill also bolsters penalties for other offenses, including second-degree murder, which will now see its maximum sentence increase from 20 to 30 years. Dumais said the measure was part of a compromise with Gov. Hogan’s office.
The bill would not apply to high-level dealers or “kingpins,” Dumas said.
In accordance with the bill, the state will track the money saved through these provisions, and it will be put into a fund.
“Those savings go into this performance grant program, which can then be used for drug treatment, mental health treatment,” Dumas said. Any assets seized as a result of drug trafficking convictions will also go toward treatment programs, she said.
“It’s a health issue and we have to look at it a little more through that prism,” she said.
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