Locking up nonviolent drug users and perpetuating the 42-year-old War on Drugs has become a profitable and political tool used by Oklahoma’s elected officials and the for-profit prison industry. Many of those offenders have a recognized need for treatment or a halfway house setting instead of incarceration, said state Rep. Gus Blackwell (R-Laverne), an advocate […]
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Taking a SHINE
SHINE workers clean up graffiti as part of their responsibilities. Credit: Shannon Cornman Facing possible jail time for a drug possession conviction, the 19-year-old Oklahoma City student knew he was lucky to have been sentenced instead to work in a county-run community service program for low-level, nonviolent offenders. “It’s different,” he said. “There’s a lot […]