"Short of violating the Constitution, I'm not sure you can have a system that is tougher than the one we have in Texas," said state Rep. Ray Allen (R-Dallas). "We have made some pretty strenuous efforts to add some smarts to that. The consensus is we need to do more."

Known for keeping offenders locked up for as long as possible, Texas is now looking at transferring certain inmates to community-based mental health and addiction treatment programs and putting others on parole.

According to a report from Families Against Mandatory Minimums, about 25 states have taken similar measures, such as eliminating mandatory-minimum sentencing laws, sending nonviolent drug offenders to treatment programs, and increasing "earned-time" credits available to prisoners.

"Our society has become aware that there are solutions other than mass incarceration. We're not talking about no consequences, but the punishment should fit the crime and the offender," said Laura Sager, executive director of the group.

Texas began making changes last year when Gov. Rick Perry signed into law a measure that requires drug treatment for first-time, low-level drug offenders.

"We're trying to make more sense," said John Creuzot, a district judge in Texas, who oversees a drug court program. "Where we begin to win the war on crime is not by locking people up, but by finding out what their underlying problems are."

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Posted by Mary on 21 Jul 08 01:49 PM EDT

Where can you find the statistics on the number of convictions per county for drug offenders?

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