A shocking new report indicates Colorado prisons are being filled with drug offenders charged for possession, despite this state’s legalization of marijuana and 2013 sentencing reforms intended to favor treatment over incarceration.
The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition report found 15,323 felony drug cases filed in 2017, up from 7,424 in 2012. The report found 75 percent of those cases were for simple possession, and, of those offenders actually sent to prison, 84 percent were originally charged with only possession.
We will be among those shouting for additional sentencing reform if those numbers survive scrutiny, but Colorado’s district attorneys are as puzzled as we are by the statistics, given what they anecdotally see everyday as they prosecute cases.
“Even if someone shot up with heroin in court, they are likely not going to prison,” said District Attorney George Brauchler, who ran the 2016 numbers for the 18th Judicial District. His research found that of 1,068 cases filed for felony possession, only 102 of them included prison sentences. Of those 102 cases, 80 involved a plea to felony possession from a higher-class felony.
That leaves 22 cases out of 4,867 felony cases in Brauchler’s district where the top charge was felony possession, and all but one of those cases was connected to charges in another jurisdiction that were likely more serious and therefore resulted in the prison time.
So what’s going on with such major discrepancy? The disconnect points to a fundamental problem with Colorado’s judicial system: a lack of reliable data upon which policy makers can make sound decisions.
For example, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council flagged a troubling trend earlier this year: felony criminal filings across Colorado had increased by nearly 50 percent over five years. No one is certain why.
But it all might tie back to the complexities of sentencing reform that in 2013 created a system where those charged with a felony for possession could get the conviction dropped to a misdemeanor by completing treatment and not violating probation.
“What I fear is that we are filling up our prisons with people who are victimizing our community because of an untreated drug problem,” said Dan Rubinstein, district attorney for the 21st Judicial District. “If we could have treated the drug problem sooner, not only would we have an offender with a treated drug problem, we would have many fewer victims.”
Rubinstein helped draft the 2013 law and said he is concerned by the spike in felony convictions. He said he will begin drilling into data in Mesa County, but anecdotally he doubts prisons are being filled with drug offenders who are facing convictions for possession alone. Rather he suspects to find multiple repeat offenders and those who go on to commit more severe crimes.
Much more research needs to be done before Colorado can get to the heart of this problem, especially given the debate now before lawmakers on whether to reopen a prison in Cañon City.
We join the chorus of those wanting low-level drug offenders to get treatment in their communities rather than punishment in our prisons. But those sent to such facilities in lieu of prison must be legitimately able to benefit from treatment, and not hardened criminals.
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