cannabisnews.com: Gilmore Proposes Drug Laws That Would Be Toughest





Gilmore Proposes Drug Laws That Would Be Toughest
Posted by FoM on September 21, 1999 at 06:13:08 PT
By Warren Fiske 
Source: Pilot Online
Gov. Jim Gilmore on Monday proposed wider use of mandatory life sentences for major drug dealers as part of a series of reforms he said would give Virginia the toughest anti-drug laws in the nation.
``Today, I want to send a message to drug kingpins and their pushers: Your reckless and destructive law-breaking lifestyles are over,'' Gilmore, a Republican, said during a speech on the flag-bedecked portico of the Capitol. ``We're going to find you, arrest you, prosecute you and put you in prison for the rest of your lives.''The wide-ranging plan -- which also calls for substantial new funding for drug treatment programs -- will be submitted to the General Assembly in January. It would impose mandatory life terms without parole for people convicted as drug kingpins. Judges now have the discretion of giving major dealers sentences ranging from 20 years to life.In addition, Gilmore would dramatically lower the threshold for being convicted as a kingpin. For example, the standard for dealing heroin would be dropped from 100 kilos to one kilo, and the standard for dealing cocaine lowered from 500 kilos to one kilo. Marijuana dealers are now exempt from the kingpin statute. Under Gilmore's proposal, people convicted of possessing or distributing 260 pounds of the drug would receive life sentences.Gilmore would define a kingpin as a person making a $100,000 annual profit selling drugs, or anyone caught possessing or distributing 10 kilos of cocaine or one kilo of crack cocaine. The governor said the standards are set high enough to prevent casual drug users from facing lifetime sentences.To help catch major dealers, Gilmore called for the hiring of 210 additional state police officers over the next two years. He also would establish rewards of up to $10,000 for people who come forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of drug kingpins.Gilmore said the plan is intended to address growing drug use in Virginia. Arrests for possession or sale of narcotics have increased 60 percent over the past 10 years, he said. Of particular concern, Gilmore said, is a recent surge in the use of crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that can be easily produced in makeshift laboratories.``We want to send a strong message that if you're going to be a drug kingpin, you don't want to be in Virginia,'' Gilmore said.Several criminal justice experts questioned Gilmore's logic, however. They said studies have long indicated that tougher sentencing has little impact on drug trafficking.``Certainly, this may help a little, but as long as there is money to be made, people will be selling drugs,'' said Jennie Gainsborough, a spokeswoman for The Sentencing Project, a liberal public interest group in Washington.``Virginia is not an island,'' she said. ``Even if Virginia could drive away its major drug dealers, what's to keep its citizens from going to another state to buy their drugs and bring them back?''Gainsborough also voiced concerns about Gilmore's lower thresholds for mandatory life sentences. ``It isn't the kingpins that would get caught up in this as much as the lower level of dealers whose main problems are drug addictions,'' she said. ``To lock them up for life is an expensive proposition. You can accomplish a lot more at a much lower cost by giving them effective drug treatment.''To that aim, Gilmore said almost half of the $30 million annual cost of his program would pay for expanded drug treatment.Under the proposal, all people convicted of minor drug-related offenses -- even casual use or possession of marijuana -- would undergo some form of mandatory drug counseling determined by judges. In addition, Gilmore would expand drug treatment programs available to prisoners and parolees. Gilmore's plan won kudos from Walter Kloetzli, a board member of the Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery Alliance. ``I fervently hope this is the beginning of Virginia moving ahead strongly on a program of more treatment for the addicted population,'' he said. ``Treatment has been underfunded for years.''Gilmore's proposal is certain to become part of the Republican platform this fall during heated legislative races across the state. At stake is the delicately balanced partisan control of both houses of the General Assembly. Staff writer Holly Heyser contributed to this report. Reach Warren Fiske at (804) 697-1565 or e-mail:fiske richmond.infi.net Gov. Jim Gilmore's proposal, which would have to be passed by the General Assembly:Would impose mandatory life terms for convicted drug kingpins.Would lower the threshold for being convicted as a kingpin to one kilo for heroin and one kilo for cocaine.Would make some marijuana dealers kingpins.Would hire 210 additional state police officers.Would give rewards of up to $10,000 for people who help convict kingpins.Would impose mandatory drug counseling for minor drug offenses. Sept. 21, 1999BY WARREN FISKE, The Virginian-Pilot Copyright 1999, Landmark Communications Inc. 
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