04/12/2014 05:00 PM House FINANCE

CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 56(JUD)                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act relating to certain crimes involving                                                                               
     controlled substances; and providing for an effective                                                                      
     date."                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
6:16:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
LOI  RICKER,  STOP   VALLEY  THIEVES  (via  teleconference),                                                                    
testified about  her personal  experience dealing  with drug                                                                    
addicts and  the thefts  that they  commit. She  opined that                                                                    
she  could no  longer hire  men who  have been  incarcerated                                                                    
because  she could  not trust  them not  to steal.  She said                                                                    
that beyond the initial  monetary theft there was additional                                                                    
fear created  by the actions  of drug addicts. She  said she                                                                    
took  her offender  to  court and  the  case was  dismissed,                                                                    
which   made  her   feel   unsupported.   She  opposed   the                                                                    
legislation. She felt  she had been unfairly  treated by the                                                                    
court system  during her court  case. She stressed  that the                                                                    
drug problem in her part of the state was an epidemic.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Stoltze commended  Stop Valley  Thieves for  their                                                                    
effective use of social media.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
6:23:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RICK  ALLEN, DIRECTOR,  OFFICE  OF  PUBLIC ADVOCACY,  PALMER                                                                    
(via teleconference),  spoke in support of  the legislation.                                                                    
He pointed  out that  the state's  drug policy  had remained                                                                    
the same  since the Nixon  Administration. He felt  that the                                                                    
status quo of the last 40  years had not been successful. He                                                                    
believed that  the legislation  was a  well-reasoned, common                                                                    
sense  reform  that  would  benefit  many  his  clients.  He                                                                    
believed that the  bill would give the  chance of redemption                                                                    
to people who  made the foolish decision to  possess a small                                                                    
amount  of  drugs. The  lifelong  consequences  of a  felony                                                                    
conviction were  far-reaching and  severe. He  asserted that                                                                    
the programs outlined  in the bill were working  in 13 other                                                                    
states, without compromising public safety.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
6:24:57 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SETH  MCMILLAN,   ANCHORAGE  POLICE   DEPARTMENT  EMPLOYEES'                                                                    
ASSOCIATION,  ANCHORAGE (via  teleconference), testified  in                                                                    
opposition  to  the  legislation.  He spoke  of  his  unique                                                                    
window  into the  world  and  lives of  a  spectrum of  drug                                                                    
addicts,  dealers, police  informants, and  drug enforcement                                                                    
collaborators state-wide. He  discussed the threshold limits                                                                    
for  each  type  of  drug  addressed  in  the  current  bill                                                                    
version. He  offered a rebuttal to  Senator Dyson's response                                                                    
to questions from  a March 18, 2014 public  hearing (copy on                                                                    
file). He  believed that the  threshold limits  should speak                                                                    
to the  economic aspects  specific to  Alaska. He  said that                                                                    
street drugs in  Alaska cost 5 times more than  a user would                                                                    
pay anywhere else  in the Lower 48. He  opined the financial                                                                    
incentive to bring wholesale purchase  drugs into Alaska and                                                                    
send them into  the street in small amounts  and at inflated                                                                    
prices that an Alaskan  addict would unquestionably pay for.                                                                    
He  stressed that  the destructive  nature  of addiction  to                                                                    
hard core drugs precluded  the addict from having legitimate                                                                    
employment and  from being an  earning and  taxpaying member                                                                    
of society.  He relayed that  the drive to obtain  the drugs                                                                    
made  addicts commit  property and  violent  crimes to  fund                                                                    
their  habit. He  closed  by speaking  to  the 2010  federal                                                                    
threshold  act, which  he believed  had made  it easier  for                                                                    
dealers to carry and sell  more drugs. He concluded that the                                                                    
establishment  of  threshold  limits  for  certain  hardcore                                                                    
drugs  would have  a severe  impact  on the  ability of  law                                                                    
enforcement to exercise discretion  and the fair application                                                                    
of drug  statues that already  had criminal court  rules and                                                                    
mitigating statutes in place  that recognized the difference                                                                    
between a drug distributer and a drug user.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
6:35:09 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze  clarified that Mr. McMillan  spoke for the                                                                    
police  department's employee  association and  not for  the                                                                    
department itself.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Mr. McMillan replied yes.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair   Stoltze   stated   that  the   Anchorage   Police                                                                    
Department  and the  Mayor of  Anchorage had  not offered  a                                                                    
comment on the legislation.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
6:36:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARY   GEDDES,   SELF,   ANCHORAGE   (via   teleconference),                                                                    
testified  that  she  had   represented  thousands  of  drug                                                                    
offenders in court.  She opined that the war on  drugs was a                                                                    
failure. She  believed that the  issue of drug abuse  in the                                                                    
state was a non-partisan one.  She shared that the number of                                                                    
Alaskan's being charged and convicted  as drug offenders was                                                                    
increasing  yearly; incarceration  for both  misdemeanor and                                                                    
felony  drug  offenses had  increased  by  63 percent  since                                                                    
2002.  She relayed  that the  average length  of stay  for a                                                                    
felon  in  2011  was  7.2 years.  The  increased  costs  and                                                                    
increased lengths  of stay had  not proven  statistically to                                                                    
be  effective  in reducing  recidivism.  She  said that  the                                                                    
national statistics had shown  that incarceration alone as a                                                                    
solution does not  work. She explained that  things that had                                                                    
been  shown  to  work included  intervention  and  community                                                                    
based  treatment. She  believed that  the legislation  would                                                                    
provide  an opportunity  for  meaningful rehabilitation  and                                                                    
reformation. She spoke to the  federal law as it compared to                                                                    
Alaska  law.  She  explained that,  on  the  federal  level,                                                                    
simple  possession for  most  drugs had  been  reduced to  a                                                                    
misdemeanor  and  there was  no  felony  conviction for  the                                                                    
simple possession  of drugs. She  said that Alaska  had many                                                                    
felony penalties  for the possession  of different  kinds of                                                                    
drugs.  She urged  the committee  dial  back sanctions  that                                                                    
were  expensive  and ineffective  and  allow  for a  greater                                                                    
emphasis on treatment opportunities.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
6:43:58 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MIKE WALSH, SELF, PALMER  (via teleconference), testified in                                                                    
opposition to SB  56. He believed that the passage  of SB 56                                                                    
would  send the  wrong  message to  young people  concerning                                                                    
drug use  and would lead  to future overdoses. He  said that                                                                    
the  bill was  a radical  proposal and  that California  and                                                                    
Colorado  had been  wise to  pass on  drug re-classification                                                                    
when  similar measures  were proposed  in  2012. He  thought                                                                    
that the bar  had been placed too low for  the public safety                                                                    
implications  and   purported  benefits  of  the   bill.  He                                                                    
challenged the  idea that passing  the bill  would alleviate                                                                    
prison overcrowding.  He relayed  that in Alaska  courts, an                                                                    
offender  on probation  for  an offense  covered  by SB  56,                                                                    
without  significant criminal  history,  would receive  many                                                                    
chances  to straighten  out  while  under court  supervision                                                                    
before  facing  the  prospect of  a  felony  conviction.  He                                                                    
asserted that  there was already  a sentencing  mechanism in                                                                    
the  state  that  balanced  the   public  safety  impact  of                                                                    
addiction  to substances  against  the need  to provide  the                                                                    
chance to rehabilitate. He warned  that the bill could leave                                                                    
drug  addicts  on the  streets  unsupervised.  He said  that                                                                    
incarceration  for  a  considerable  amount of  time  was  a                                                                    
necessary and  valuable experience for people  with years of                                                                    
recovery behind them. He warned  that reducing the penalties                                                                    
for  offenses  would not  motivate  offenders  to begin  and                                                                    
complete treatment.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
6:52:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KATE BURKHART, ADVISORY BOARD ON  ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE,                                                                    
spoke in  support for  SB 56. She  testified that  the board                                                                    
did not  view the legislation  as a change in  public policy                                                                    
that would condone  or legitimize the use  of illicit drugs.                                                                    
She echoed  previous concerns  about addiction  fueled crime                                                                    
and deaths  due to  drug abuse. She  relayed that  the board                                                                    
did not  believe that  the bill  would further  those social                                                                    
problems.  She said  that the  board viewed  the bill  as an                                                                    
opportunity  to intervene  and shift  first and  second time                                                                    
offenders away from a lifestyle  fueled by drug abuse toward                                                                    
a lifetime  of recovery  and contribution to  community. She                                                                    
appreciated  that   the  bill  would  require   a  defendant                                                                    
convicted of misconduct involving  a controlled substance in                                                                    
the  5th  degree  would  be mandated  to  go  to  screening,                                                                    
evaluation,  referral,  and  treatment if  appropriate.  She                                                                    
asserted  that the  mandate  would a  first  or second  time                                                                    
offender  could   be  shifted  away  from   the  traditional                                                                    
incarceration  to rehabilitation  and community  management.                                                                    
She offered an example  that evidence of therapeutic justice                                                                    
was effective.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
6:55:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Wilson  asked   whether  treatment  programs                                                                    
currently existed.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Burkhart  replied that the  ASAP programs would  have to                                                                    
be modified to  meet the requirements of the  bill. She said                                                                    
that the  programs that  could be  funded by  the Recidivism                                                                    
Reduction Fund  in SB 64 would  be a way to  expand capacity                                                                    
to  meet the  needs  of people  referred  under the  changes                                                                    
contemplated in SB 56.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
6:57:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stoltze CLOSED public testimony.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CSSB 56(JUD)  was HEARD  and HELD  in committee  for further                                                                    
consideration.