We can probably all agree that drugs have no place in schools, and that when students sell them to other students it is a serious situation that merits a serious response. But would locking a teenager up for five years be the proper reaction? According to the Portland Press Herald, that’s the possible outcome if prosecutors opt to charge three Cape Elizabeth High School students accused of selling pot-laced cookies at school with aggravated trafficking – a felony that carries up to five years and a $5,000 fine. We hope that's not what happens.
The overcriminalization of marijuana offenses has clogged our criminal justice system with nonviolent offenders, while doing little to curb drug use. And when the offenders are kids, contact with the criminal justice system can derail their lives forever. In fact, juveniles who have been incarcerated face a greater risk of committing future crimes – often more serious than their first – than kids who have never been in custody.
Young people have a unique capacity to grow and change. Our criminal justice system should strive to rehabilitate whenever possible, but especially when it comes to young people we should look for more effective alternatives to incarceration that help offenders become productive members of society. Incarceration should be a last – not first – resort.