END PRISON FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

Re "State must slash prison population" (Page A1, May 24): With
California under court order to reduce the prison population by
33,000 prisoners, it is noteworthy that the state incarcerates 25,000
prisoners for nonviolent drug offenses.

Prison overcrowding can thus be largely attributed to the drug laws.

Fortunately, there are signs that the high tide of drug prohibition
may be waning. Drug offenders have declined from 28 percent to 15
percent of all inmates since California voters approved Proposition
36, which mandated treatment instead of prison for minor possession offenders.

A bill to reduce the number of marijuana prisoners, Assembly Bill
1017 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, would reduce cultivation penalties
from a mandatory felony to a "wobbler," or alternate misdemeanor.

Let us hope that our legislators have the wisdom to eliminate felony
penalties for inherently nonviolent drug offenses.

Dale Gieringer, director, California NORML, San Francisco