General Assembly set to debate lowering sentences for some drug possession
PROVIDENCE — The General Assembly has begun a review of legislation that could change how law enforcement handles possession of controlled substances in the Rhode Island court system.
The Senate on Tuesday referred a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey, D-Dist. 29, Warwick, that would lower possession of certain controlled substances from felony charges to misdemeanors to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Greg Pare, the Senate’s spokesman.
McCaffrey’s bill, S 0188, which has the support of Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, would amend the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and reclassify simple possession of 10 grams or less of certain controlled substances as a crime punishable as a two-year misdemeanor rather than a felony, according to Pare.
If approved and passed into law, the legislation would allow people charged with possession of small quantities of illegal drugs to be charged with misdemeanor violations and, as a result of diversion through the courts, be able to seek the appropriate treatment for drug addiction.
“People suffering from addiction need treatment, not prison,” McCaffrey said of his proposed legislation. “As we better understand addiction and rehabilitation, we must modernize draconian
sentencing laws to more effectively address substance use disorders. This legislation shifts the paradigm for combating addiction away from crime and punishment and toward treatment.”
“Branding individuals as felons because of an addiction only creates additional barriers to their successful recovery,” the senator added.
By defelonizing certain levels of drug use and possession, McCaffrey hopes people will be able to seek addiction treatment if they need it rather than ending up in a cycle of drug use and arrests.
People with felony charges on their record have difficulty finding work or a place to live, Pare noted.
McCaffrey’s bill may reduce that issue as people try to get back on track with a decreased likelihood of committing a felony, according Pare. Supporters also cite success with defelonizing drugs in states like California and Utah, he noted.
“The intent is to direct the person more toward treatment rather that incarceration,” Pare said.
Senator McCaffrey has also worked with Attorney General Neronha in 2019 on similar legislation that would recognize addiction as a public health crisis and prioritize treatment over felony prosecution, according to Pare.
McCaffrey also sponsored a package of justice reinvestment legislation in 2017 that was enacted into law by the General Assembly.
“I believe that possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use is much more of a public health issue than a law enforcement one,” Neronha said of the new legislation proposed by McCaffrey.
“Over-criminalizing such conduct by treating it as a felony, as the law does today, rather than as a misdemeanor, as this legislation proposes, diverts our law enforcement focus away from where it plainly belongs: on the drug traffickers who profit in dealing misery to others and who often engage in the violence that regularly comes with drug dealing,” Neronha said.
“And this is no hypothetical – this Office’s narcotics prosecutors are handling over 200 cases each. I do not believe that simple drug possession is felony conduct,” the attorney general added.
“Those who simply possess drugs – who are addicted and cannot escape the cycle of addiction – face barriers to employment, housing, and other opportunities to turn their lives around because such conduct is presently classified as felony,” Neronha said. “This common-sense reform would reduce those barriers, properly position possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use where it belongs on the spectrum of criminal threats we face, and allow us to focus our law enforcement resources on the drug traffickers who warrant it.”
The legislation would affect all five classes of illegal drugs, but would have exclusions for possession of certain quantities of fentanyl to remain a felony.
The Senate is also expected in the near future to be taking up legislation now being worked on by Sen. Josh Miller proposing adult recreational use of marijuana, according to Pare.
Adult recreational use of cannabis is already allowed in nearby Massachusetts and Pare noted that Senate leadership has already indicated “openness on that issue.”
Rhode Island has legal cannabis sales occurring right at its borders with Massachusetts but is not receiving revenue from such sales to address the issues it might arise as a result of those nearby sales operations, he noted.