Florida: Is drug war working?

During an “excercise” to cut a cumulative 19 percent or so of the criminal-justice budget, Democratic Sen. Frederica Wilson interrupted a presentation on drug courts to ask: Is the war on drugs working?

“This is a never-ending war. It costs us billions and trillions of dollars,” Wilson said. “It has been going on longer than both world wars. We’re still fighting it and building prisons.”

Wilson brought up California’s “medical marijuana” initiative and wondered if it were worth pursuing. Republican Sen. Victor Crist of Tampa asked if she were advocating legalizing the drug. Wilson, a congressional candidate, stopped short, saying she’s just “fishing” (phishing?) for answers.

Said Crist: “Maybe sales of junk food would go up. It (marijuana) gives you the munchies.”

Other options that Wilson mentioned: Expand post-and pre-trial drug courts to counties without them (e.g., Miami-Dade and Leon); mandatory diversion for first-time drug offenders; reducing mandatory-minimums for non-violent offenders from 85 percent of the time to 82 percent (estimated savings $410m).

Marc Caputo, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau