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| Picture courtesy of the West Bend Daily News |
Last Friday, I attended a legislative breakfast, where a panel that included our State Senator Duey Stroebel, our State Assemblymen Bob Ganon, Dan Knodl, and Jessie Kramer, our Mayor Craig Sadownikow, and almost a dozen County Board Supervisors. I want to thank all of the publically elected officials who came out for this event.
One of the topics that was brought up involved TAD
grants. TAD stands for Treatment
Alternatives to Prison. Our County had
to decline to reapply for our TAD grant, as the TAD program has a new
requirement that we form a drug court.
Our Circuit Court Judges have told us, and all evidence confirms this,
that they do not have the resources to devote to a drug court until our county
is given a 5th Circuit Court Judge.
The State Government of Wisconsin grants the funding for circuit courts.
Another topic was where heroin prevention and treatment fell
in the County’s priority-based budgeting.
Most of the heroin prevention and treatment items scored very well, and
were rated as priority 1 or 2 items. For
example, the Heroin Task Force was rated as a priority 1 item. A couple of smaller programs related to heroin
were rated as priority 3 items. The only major program that was ranked as a priority 3 item was the DARE program, which is viewed by some a redundant with the Human Services Program that relies on evidence-based practices that have been demonstrated to have much higher success rates. Overall,
the priority rankings reflect a commitment to the prevention and treatment of heroin
addiction.
Another topic that was brought up was the legalization of
marijuana. Every one of us opposed
legalization. I made a point to mention
that there are some parts of the plan that have no recreational value, and are
being researched for potential medical benefits. For example, cannabis oil is being shown as
potentially helping children control seizures.
So far, the research seems to be showing that an individual cannot get
high from taking cannabis oil pills, so I would support legalizing that.
A question was asked about when we would start treating heroin
as a disease, and not a criminal matter.
In my view, heroin addiction is both a crime and a disease. While we are treating the disease through
prevention and treatment (over $500,000 in priority 1 & 2 prevention and
treatment programs), I saw that question as laying ta dangerous framework for legalizing
heroin under the presumption that it is a disease and should be treated only as a disease, a viewpoint I disagree with. I absolutely oppose any effort to legalize heroin. I support efforts to treat heroin addicts,
and I am open to supporting allowing a judge to expunge heroin convictions for
individuals who remain drug free for an extended period of time. I also believe that the criminal penalties
are a necessary deterrent and consequence and especially for heroin addicts who have no interest in treatment or recovery, we need to enforce those consequences.
Here is some info on Heroin-related programs at the county
level, and where they fell on the priority-based budgeting:
|
Health
|
Public Health
|
Heroin Task Force
|
32,302
|
1
|
Human Services
|
Behavioral Health
|
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
Female Residential Treatment
|
150,316
|
2
|
Human Services
|
Behavioral Health
|
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse High School
Youth Prevention and Education Programs
|
172,908
|
1
|
Human Services
|
Behavioral Health
|
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Male
Residential Treatment
|
150,316
|
2
|
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Drug Unit
|
Community Drug Presentations
|
14,630
|
3
| ||||||
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Drug Unit
|
Drug Clean Sweep
|
6,273
|
3
| ||||||
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Drug Unit
|
Drug Unit Grant & Asset Forfeiture
Programs
|
29,309
|
3
| ||||||
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Drug Unit
|
Narcotics Investigation
|
301,414
|
1
| ||||||
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Drug Unit
|
Undercover Operations
|
205,869
|
2
| ||||||
|
Sheriff's Office
|
Public Relations
|
Drug Abuse resistance & Education
(DARE)
|
84,986
|
3
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