Over the last forty years we have seen an 705% increase in the size of our prison population. With 2.3 million people behind bars, we are now the number one incarcerator in the world – followed by China with 1,640,000 and Russia with 618,600. Furthermore, we have an additional 6.9 million people under some sort of correctional supervision.  With our prisons and jails overcrowded, our court systems clogged and corrections budgets soaring, our criminal justice system is maxed out - due largely to low level, non-violent drug offense that carry excessive sentences.

Take for example, the case of Hamedah Hasan. After fleeing a physically abusive relationship and moving in with her cousin, Hamedah began to run errands for her cousin such as making phone calls and picking up money. Though she never used or sold drugs and had a clean record, she was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for drug conspiracy – for a first-time, nonviolent drug crime. Unfortunately Hamedah’s story is not unique.

So what have we gained by locking up and warehousing thousands of people for low level drug offenses? Over the past forty years the U.S spent 1.5 trillion dollars on drug control efforts (including the creation of the DEA - an agency dedicated to enforcing drug laws) and it has had virtually no impact on use. What this fails to account for is the enormous human cost to communities, families and individuals that have their lives ruined by the failed War on Drugs.

The good news is that finally, our legislators are recognizing the failure of "tough on crime". To start, in 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act that reduced the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1. While a significant step towards fairness, it still reflects outdated and discredited assumptions about crack cocaine. In 2011, the U.S Sentencing Commission voted to retroactively apply the new FSA sentencing guidelines to those sentenced before the law was enacted. Under these new guidelines, after serving 19 years in prison Hamedah was released last year.

Furthermore, earlier this year, Sens. Richar Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Ut.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt. Introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013. This legislation would reduce some of the mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and would apply the Fair Sentencing Act to those currently serving sentences for these offenses. There will be a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013 on Thursday, December 12th at 10:00am.

There is little doubt that the War on Drugs and "tough on crime" has failed. We are incarcerating record amounts of people for record amounts of time at too great a cost. While just a small step towards undoing the harms of the Drug War, by passing the Smarter Sentencing Act Congress could change the lives of thousands currently locked up due to unfair sentencing practices.

Tell Maine's legislators to support the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013.