Countywide : Candidate Opposes Tent Jail Proposal

State attorney general candidate Arlo Smith on Wednesday said he disapproves of a proposal to punish minor drug offenders in Ventura County by jailing them in tents.

“We don’t need to put first-time users in a tent city,” said Smith, San Francisco’s district attorney. “We need better and more meaningful treatment programs that will change their behavior.”

Last month, Ventura County Sheriff John V. Gillespie and Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury proposed jailing recreational drug users in tents on a military base as part of an overall plan to crack down on the demand for illegal drugs.

Under the proposal, inmates would be assigned to work on the base or to other cleanup projects, plus mandatory substance-abuse classes.

Smith said he favors drug education and counseling, but he questions incarcerating those accused of possessing or using drugs for the first time.

The debate over how to curb drug abuse has spilled into the Democratic primary campaign for attorney general between Smith and his opponent, Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner.

Reiner said he wants to eliminate the state program to divert first-time offenders to drug-abuse classes rather than sending them to jail. It is imperative, Reiner said, to issue stiff penalties for first-time offenders if America is going to win the war on drugs.

“We did not lose this war overnight and we won’t win it overnight either,” Smith said. “Reiner said that only 20% in these treatment programs get something out of it, so it isn’t worthwhile. My view is if we can save 20%, that is better than losing all of them by putting them in jail.”

Smith made his comments on a campaign swing through Ventura County Wednesday. His schedule included a speech at Ventura College and a reception sponsored by Democrats United, a local political action group, to raise money to build a county Democratic headquarters.