Can Texas lead nation away from the war on drugs?

Our country is at a crossroads when it comes to the war on drugs. After decades fighting this losing battle, we find ourselves again in the midst of a drug epidemic — this time it’s opioids.

Our state has often been seen as a leader in criminal justice reform, recognizing that harsh sentences exacerbate racial disparities while doing nothing to reduce drug use. Can Texas lead again as our nation confronts an overdose rate that claimed 64,000 lives in 2016? To do so, Texas must build on its criminal justice reforms and embrace evidence-based drug diversion programs, and stop drug users from going to prison in the first place.

I have seen firsthand the need to move away from the “tough on crime” approach to drugs. I have met individuals who were arrested and jailed for small amounts of drugs. These individuals recognize that they should be punished, but 20 years in prison is too much — it’s a lifetime. And such harsh sentences don’t just impact that individual. There’s the child who grows up without a father, the wife who rarely sees her husband and the mother who misses her son. Entire communities are decimated. And we know that although drug use is the same across races, harsh sentences are applied unevenly, falling on the backs of young black men and women.

That’s why I have spent a lot of my time trying to reform these devastating policies.

After decades of filling prisons, Texas faced a fiscal and human crisis due to overcrowding in the mid-2000s. Rather than build prisons, legislators began to pass reforms aimed at reducing the prison population. And while much more can be done, our state has become a point of reference on this issue, with our reforms replicated in states such as Georgia and Utah. Now, with the onset of the opioid epidemic, there have been calls for a return to the heavy-handed approach that is emblematic of the war on drugs.

It is therefore important to explore new approaches that confront the challenges of the opioid epidemic but maintain a commitment to criminal justice reform.

One such effort is called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD). Popularized in Seattle but now replicated throughout the country, LEAD is a diversion program that aims to keep drug users out of jail. Rather than arresting a drug user or low-level drug dealer, police officers can use their discretion to help enroll individuals in the LEAD program, where they are given a caseworker who can work with the individual to tackle their problems — drug treatment, overdose prevention, housing, education, etc.

The results of LEAD have been astounding. The Seattle program demonstrated that program participants were 60 percent less likely to be arrested again, and gained better health outcomes.

A program such as LEAD would be beneficial to numerous jurisdictions in Texas. Fortunately, a debate is taking place at the federal level that might result in our state being able to access funds and start its own programs.

This year, the Senate passed a bill that included $2.5 million in funding for LEAD. It has to be merged with the House version of the bill before being passed again. One important player in all of this is our congressman, Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, who will be one of four individuals at the table to negotiate the bill. We hope Culberson sees the tremendous impact LEAD could have on our state.

The war on drugs devastated our communities, and Texas has been slowly moving away from this approach. We must double down on our commitment to criminal justice reform by embracing innovative approaches. Texas can lead us away from the war on drugs and toward a better future.