Nathan Deal: Drug addiction ‘draining our treasury’
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, left embraces his son, Hall County Superior Judge Jason Deal, after being sworn in by his son as the 82nd Governor in the House chamber. AP/John Bazemore
In his inaugural address to a small, snow-winnowed crowd of state lawmakers, supporters and state officials, Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday made crime and its cost his very first topic.
Deal made no specific proposals, but the comments below appear to echo last week’s musings by House Speaker David Ralston, who wondered if Georgia was locking up too many people, at too high a cost – particularly in the case of drug addicts.
When a House speaker and a new governor are hitting the same notes, something’s up.
From Deal’s prepared text:
“Presently, one out of every 13 Georgia residents is under some form of correctional control. It cost about $3 million per day to operate our Department of Corrections. And yet, every day criminals continue to inflict violence on our citizens and an alarming number of perpetrators are juveniles.
“College students should be concerned about their grades not whether they are going to be mugged on their way home from class. Visitors to our cities should be treated as welcomed guests and protected. Families should not live in fear of gang violence and drive-by shootings. But most of all, our dedicated law enforcement officers must not be targets for criminals. Anyone who harms one of them harms us all, for they embody the Constitutional mandate that government provide us with protection and security.
“Breaking the culture of crime and violence is not a task for law enforcement officials alone. Parents must assume more responsibility for their children. Communities must marshal their collective wills; civic and religious organizations must use their influence to set the tone for expected behavior.
“For violent and repeat offenders, we will make you pay for your crimes. For other offenders who want to change their lives, we will provide the opportunity to do so with Day Reporting Centers, Drug, DUI and Mental Health Courts and expanded probation and treatment options. As a State, we cannot afford to have so many of our citizens waste their lives because of addictions. It is draining our State Treasury and depleting our workforce…..”
And let it be noted that Deal – unlike his predecessor – put a great deal of emphasis on transportation:
With an expansive land mass that is populated by one large metropolitan area, several medium-sized municipalities, and many smaller cities and rural counties, our transportation needs are very diverse. With our ports at Savannah and Brunswick, we are part of an expanding international trade community.
We will do our part to deepen the Savannah port in order to accommodate the larger vessels that will soon pass through the Panama Canal. But we must do more. Our rail capacity and cargo routes must be improved and expanded. We must not miss this opportunity to provide jobs for Georgians.
Highway congestion, especially in the Greater Atlanta area is a deterrent to job growth in the region. If we do not solve this problem soon, we will lose the businesses who want to expand or locate in our State. I am dedicated to working with all elements of government to improve our transportation system and I call on all Georgians to join us. We must put aside some of the regional differences of the past and work for the common good of our State.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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118 comments Add your comment
Hardcore
January 10th, 2011
6:38 pm
Governor Deal,
You mentioned in your speech that a large numbers of crime are committed by juveniles and that parents need to be accept more responsibility for the actions and rearing of ther children and I agree with you 100%. However in todays world if a parent spanks or whips their child they stand a huge chance of having the child taken from them and placed in jail, once again adding to the over crowded jail and burden of the tax payers.
I have heard children from ages 6 to 16 tell their parents, spank me, whip me or touch me and I will have you put in jail and will have my teachers call DFACS. When society became passive and started the “time out” era and said that spanking, whipping, ect is mentality abusive then we as a society opened the door for out of control juveniles that kill, steal and destroy.
So Governor Deal if you want to put a stop to juvenile problems then get with your legislation and change the DFACS laws and the laws pertaining to the parents ability to discipline. I know my grandparents and my parents whipped me with a belt and switches many times and left marks that would last a couple of days. But im not crazy, i served in our U.S. military and now Im a proud father raising 2 daughters.
Parents need more of an ability to discipline and children need to be brought up in a good church and made to be active in church whether they want to or not. Let anyone see one mark on a child and the parents must get ready for a battle and time in prison. I understand we have lunatic people that do not deserve to be parents that would abuse or put their own children in harms way, however their is nothing wrong with a belt whipping that might just put red marks on the legs and make their butt sore for a couple of days.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
6:40 pm
“making drugs legal is stupidist thing ever…the death penalty for repeat offenders sounds more reasonable.”
why don’t we just shoot someone the moment they are born, that way they can never possibly break the law
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
6:43 pm
it really is amazing how hateful ignorant people can be sometimes
Stephanie
January 10th, 2011
6:46 pm
Legalizing drugs, any drugs, instantly makes it seem OK for kids to use. Do I personally care if you smoke pot or whatever behind your closed doors? No. But perhaps your outspokenness to legalize drugs drives more young people to try them. Moreover, it seems all the people I personally know who want drugs legal are active users.
Drugs will always be a problem, until the reasons for using are addressed. However, our society is forcing every kind of pharmaceutical drug imaginable its population. Needlessly prescribing Prozac, Adderall, etc hastens the pathway to addiction.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
6:48 pm
“Legalizing drugs, any drugs, instantly makes it seem OK for kids to use. Do I personally care if you smoke pot or whatever behind your closed doors? No. But perhaps your outspokenness to legalize drugs drives more young people to try them.”
stephanie, i recommend following governor deal’s advice and being a better parent rather than blaming society for the bad behavior of your children
you could also relax and realize that drugs aren’t terrible if used responsibly, but that would probably require that you change your mind so… nah
td
January 10th, 2011
6:51 pm
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
5:53 pm
“your proposal is draconian and you have a very poor understanding of what makes people tick”
Then please go right ahead and help me understand? Let me guess let us make all drugs legal? Am I close? I was once young, dumb and stupid. One day when you have a good job, own property, have teen age children and seen nearly 10% of the people you grew up with ruin their lives then you too will change your mind.
JaTeekjaunious
January 10th, 2011
6:54 pm
Allow bathtub meth to be made leggally because it’s poisoness witch will kill off the losers witch are the bigest drain on the econnomy.
Bob
January 10th, 2011
6:57 pm
Quit putting people in prison. Publicly flog them, and move on. Get capital offenders off death row by administering the penalty for their crimes more quickly. Enact a law making three felony convictions a capital crime.
Pause for a moment or two and reflect on the massive savings the above provisions would produce.
More importantly, greater justice would be gained. Two great goals of the state are within easy reach.
Ugh
January 10th, 2011
6:58 pm
Legalize weed and the state will save millions
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
6:59 pm
“Then please go right ahead and help me understand? Let me guess let us make all drugs legal? Am I close?”
no, you’re not even close. i called you draconian (it’s a word that means ‘bad’, look it up) because you seriously advocated brainwashing people. that is a Bad Thing. you had a Bad Thought. Bad. does that explain it any better?
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:01 pm
would i be communicating on your intellectual level if i smacked your nose with a rolled up newspaper? bad td, bad! we do not brainwash people! no!
JaTeekjaunious
January 10th, 2011
7:01 pm
Ugh
January 10th, 2011
6:58 pm
Legalize weed and the state will save millions
Just ad some bad crack rock to the weed (and meth) and wach the econnomy drainers cease to exsits
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:03 pm
you seem to be pretty familiar with bad crack rock, JaTeekjaunious, given the terrible state of your spelling, grammar etc.
Browncoat
January 10th, 2011
7:09 pm
How much money could be saved by decriminalizing most drugs and releasing nonviolent drug offenders from prison. Then use some of the savings to treat people with drug additions. And for those of you who think that the drug war has been a success, my 8th grader knows where to get drugs at school if he was so inclined, and I can drive five minutes from my house and get whatever I want.
td
January 10th, 2011
7:10 pm
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
6:59 pm
“Then please go right ahead and help me understand? Let me guess let us make all drugs legal? Am I close?”
no, you’re not even close. i called you draconian (it’s a word that means ‘bad’, look it up) because you seriously advocated brainwashing people. that is a Bad Thing. you had a Bad Thought. Bad. does that explain it any better?
In your words “brainwashing” a person to not become a drug addict is a bad thing? It is better for the person to become a drug addict? Really? I do not calling it “brainwashing” I call it to educate and make sure a tendency or a personality trait does not become a reality.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:13 pm
are you a coward who can’t stick to his own words, or are you seriously too ignorant to understand what you’re typing? this is what you said:
“find these people with additive personality tendencies when they are young and do some serious retraining of their minds to put the additive personality traits to work for the betterment of society”
it didn’t work for mao and it’s not going to work for you, comrade. besides, if we get rid of everyone with additive personality traits, there will be nobody left to add things up!
stop the insanity
January 10th, 2011
7:13 pm
First, de-criminalize drugs. All of them, but most importantly, marijuana.
As a result, you have taken the money out of the hands of criminals, and the youth who live in areas where the illegal drug trade is their only hope of earning anything.
Then, you treat those who have drug problems, openly, without judgment.
This accomplishes one more thing that is key. It puts a stop to the stranglehold the prison complex has on the budget by eliminating the inane practice of incarcerating people for casual drug use, and those on the street who supply them.
Problem is, this is way too much common sense for government.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:15 pm
look, i’m not saying we’re going to brainwash people. we’re just going to do some serious retraining of their minds so that they think a different way. totally different concepts!
Cloverhurst
January 10th, 2011
7:17 pm
Good move by Nathan- it costs a lot less to rehabilitate non-violent drug offenders than it does to incarcerate them.
Fulton County has had a drug court for many years that has been very successful. He is right this problem is draining our treasury and workforce.
AAmeeting
January 10th, 2011
7:22 pm
hypocrites, I’ve notice you’re quick to chastise someone for nor conforming to your beliefs in drug use and distribution. You said, “you could also relax and realize that drugs aren’t terrible if used responsibly,” That is quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Alcohol was made legal after the Volstead Act was repealed and we have seen how “responsible” society as a whole has been with that. How many billions (with a B) of dollars have been spent over the last 70+ years cleaning up after what the “responsible” have done. This does not include the priceless numbers of lives that cannot be replaced. I’ve stood over the “harmless” marijuana users and read them Miranda after they slammed into a family vehicle killing everyone inside. Observe a funerals with the smallest casket imaginable being carried graveside. In a nutshell, society in general has not shown any responsibility in dealing with alcohol, what makes you think legalizing drugs would fair any better? Back up your argument and I’ll listen.
WE have lost our way
January 10th, 2011
7:25 pm
The message that Governor Deal was trying to get across to the general public is there are currently NO alternative sentencing for judges in this state for drug related crimes.The only sentence that can be given for repeat drug offenders is confinement in a state institution.First offense can be probation,after that you are serving time in a state pen at the cost of around 24,000.00 a year without medical cost in this amount.Medical cost could be thousands more per year. The State judges want alternative sentencing such as drug detention centers,day centers for drug counseling and Diversion Centers across the state. All of these type centers were available in the 80,s and 90,s in the Department of Corrections. However they were eliminated by the past administration under Perdue to save State funds. One side note- please realize that Gov. Deal,s son is a State Judge who has his ear and other judges.
Travis McGee
January 10th, 2011
7:36 pm
As one who spent years working with at-risk families and children, I can tell you with authority politicians know they can cut funding for the poor, homeless, mentally ill and addicted with impunity: these folks don’t vote! These folks are expendable.
When it comes to at-risk kids, families and the addicted I’m reminded of the ol’ Fram oil filter commercials: Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later!
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:36 pm
“hypocrites, I’ve notice you’re quick to chastise someone for nor conforming to your beliefs in drug use and distribution.”
if you were really paying attention, you would notice that i’m attacking the structure of their arguments or the zeal with which they are willing to punish drug users, some even seriously advocating the death penalty. i don’t care if you think drugs should be illegal, i just plead for you to actually think about the problem like a rational adult rather than parroting the same old tired nonsense
“How many billions (with a B) of dollars have been spent over the last 70+ years cleaning up after what the “responsible” have done.”
quite a lot. NIDA estimates about $130 billion a year on alcohol related costs alone!
but, this does not balance against the responsible users. we don’t know how much responsible alcohol use costs, because we only track the costs of irresponsibility. millions of americans consume alcohol every day without killing or maiming someone else.
many things can be used irresponsibly. handguns are the prime example, but there are many others. yet we continue to hold the utterly hypocritical standpoint that adults should be able to buy alcohol, firearms, and tobacco but should not be allowed to buy marijuana or LSD. there is no effective difference between alcohol and marijuana.
“In a nutshell, society in general has not shown any responsibility in dealing with alcohol, what makes you think legalizing drugs would fair any better? Back up your argument and I’ll listen.”
you’re not willing to listen to my argument regardless. you’ve rationalized the Drugs Are Bad idea with a bunch of hyperbolic, emotional nonsense.
i would like to ask you this – why do you feel like you have a moralistic high ground in deciding what other adults are and are not allowed to consume?
No Dog in this Hunt
January 10th, 2011
7:36 pm
Perdue’s reason for eliminating the alternative drug sentences was more to do with the poor operations of those facilities than with their expense. Deal is proposing to reinstate them and make sure they are run properly and efficiently. I am not a fan of Deal, but this makes sense. Give them counseling and drug testing, and keep them in society with their families and jobs.
WE have lost our way
January 10th, 2011
7:44 pm
@No Dog in this Hunt– Not so fast my friend.I was in State Government for over 30 years and was in the meetings at OPB and LBO when the cut was made.It was about he money,always the money.A majority of State Judges were upset at these cuts.
Fman
January 10th, 2011
8:20 pm
The reason we have so many prisoners is because it is big business. The prison industry has “business development executives” who lobby for overly tough laws, publicize every case where the suspect “got off”, and fund all these TV shows that make people afraid. The fact is that the US has more prisoners and a higher prison rate per capita than any other country in the world. Within the G-7, the US has 10 times more prisoners per person than the other 6 large industrial countries.
It’s time we get smart and stop putting people in prison because they smoke, snort, or shoot up. The user may need treatment; they do not need jail.
td
January 10th, 2011
8:22 pm
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
7:36 pm
Like I said before when you grow up, own property, have teenage children then you will change your mind. What is “responsible use”? What are the ramifications? Who is going to take care of the people that can not act responsible? Have you ever seen medical pictures of the brain of what long term Meth, LSD and Crack use does? Your brain is gone, you are literally a vegetable. Who is going to take care of you then?
Last Man Standing
January 10th, 2011
8:26 pm
td
January 10th, 2011 – 4:08 pm
“At the turn of the 19th century, China solved its opium problem by putting all users and dealers to death immediately. It only took 10 years to solve their addition problem.”
I could not agree more! Leave ‘em laying where you found them.
sho'nuff
January 10th, 2011
8:27 pm
Is that it? Is that the vision he has for this state? Prison’s are the No. 1 industry in Georgia, indeed across the South. Legalized Slavery when 65% of minority Youth are locked up. 50% High School Drop out rate. Most of our young people feel disconnected from the mainstream, because they feel, and see the rampant racism of People in charge. Where is the hope? Where is the Justice? Can anyone say they were inspired by his inaugural address. Saying Healthcare is a personal responsibility. In other words don’t get sick. Wow!!!
eatmotacos
January 10th, 2011
8:27 pm
Just take a play out of the ICE playbook – ignore them – look the other way. You don’t have to change the drug laws, just make a lot of excuses as to why you can’t enforce them. Do the same with all criminals. There are too many of them – it will be too costly. Just do away with all law enforcement – look at the savings. The same with roads. Just forget about them. When they become impassable, people will just walk. Look at the savings there.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
8:40 pm
“Like I said before when you grow up, own property, have teenage children then you will change your mind.”
if all you have left are baseless attacks against my socioeconomic status, i can only conclude that you have nothing left to say. i’ll consider the point conceded
John
January 10th, 2011
8:49 pm
Prohibition never has, does not now and never will work. When will we ever wake up to that simple fact? As a nation, we lock up a greater % of our population than any other nation in the world and we have destroyed countless lives in the process of saving them from themselves by incarcerating them in the name of the War On Drugs.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
9:01 pm
“Prohibition never has, does not now and never will work.”
prohibition works fine, if you’re a gangster. at this point, our government is the gangster.
eatmotacos
January 10th, 2011
9:35 pm
The Real Deal’s primary focus for the next four years is going to be padding the pockets of the Real Deal. Anyone who thinks that he has a sincere interest in rational discourse on any issue affecting Georgia’s citizens, hasn’t been paying attention. If you want him to pay attention to your concerns, like his predecessor, there will have to be something in it for him. In other words, the unwashed masses, (Isackson’s term for gullible constituents), need not apply. You may want to check your business card to see if it says major corporate CEO, deep pocketed lobbiest, or generous investor looking for a partner, if you intend to get the governor’s ear.
td
January 10th, 2011
10:02 pm
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
8:40 pm
“Like I said before when you grow up, own property, have teenage children then you will change your mind.”
if all you have left are baseless attacks against my socioeconomic status, i can only conclude that you have nothing left to say. i’ll consider the point conceded
Like I said you are not old enough, experienced enough or smart enough to even be a part of this discussion. You will realize one day what a fool you have made out of yourself today. I just hope and pray that that day will be way before your children are of the age to become addicted to illegal substances or in the prison system due to the consequences of partaking in the industry.
las cruces
January 10th, 2011
10:08 pm
sarah p. is a accessory to murder.
hypocrites
January 10th, 2011
10:12 pm
“Like I said you are not old enough, experienced enough or smart enough to even be a part of this discussion. You will realize one day what a fool you have made out of yourself today. I just hope and pray that that day will be way before your children are of the age to become addicted to illegal substances or in the prison system due to the consequences of partaking in the industry.”
you don’t know a thing about me. you have no idea how old i am, or if i have kids. you’re embarrassed because i made you look the fool, so you had to think up details about an internet stranger just to maintain a grip on your ego. pathetic! at least you felt so strongly about your sad little parting shot that you used spellcheck.
Nathan Deal: Jailing Drug Addicts Is ‘Draining To Our State’ | joeysmart
January 10th, 2011
10:29 pm
[...] are his comments about drug enforcement, from The Atlanta Journal Constitution. For violent and repeat offenders, we will make you pay for your crimes. For other offenders who [...]
bill
January 10th, 2011
11:03 pm
drugs and alcohol abuse belong to the medical community not public safety……..legalization is the only practical solution. By making drugs criminal we have created a subculture and ruined Mexico.
Steve
January 11th, 2011
3:43 am
Just legalize it all and deal with it like adults. This drug war hysteria needs to go away.
Engineer
January 11th, 2011
8:42 am
Start forcing unannounced random drug screenings on all people receiving welfare checks (with the threat of being kicked off welfare if results are positive) and I believe you’d see a drop in drug use among the lower income individuals with the side benefit of taxpayer dollars not funding the drug trade.
ROBOCOP
January 11th, 2011
10:46 am
It’s a good thing td is not setting policy on how to deal with drug “addiction” in this country. I also find it highly ironic (but not surprising) that td would reference communist China as a source to look at for how to fix the drug problem. td, if you’ll do a little research, you’ll learn that Georgia has historically always been tough on crime. Historically, td, Georgia incarcerates its citizens at twice the national average. It’s the fifth largest prison system in the country. If building more prisons and locking more people up were the answers to our epidemic of crime, Georgia would have solved crime many years ago. Get smart. Think before you offer such predictably silly ideas about how to address the drug problem in this country. Like Bobby, above, who foolishly opines that jails and prisons are nice places to be, jails and prisons in Georgia are NOT comfortable places. Obviously he’s never visited any, but expresses his misinformed opinion probably by watching Sean Vanity or some other hyperbolic member of the conservative movement. As was noted above by We have lost our way, our former idiot Governor and his lap dog former Corrections Commissioner James Donald (now Parole Board Chairman) cut out the kinds of programs that address drug problems because Donald felt his purpose in life was to reduce the DOC budget, no matter what the impact. Now, Georgia prisons are triple and quadruple bunking inmates in cells designed for 1 or 2. And soon enough we’ll be paying for a federal court monitor to put us back in compliance with 19th century standards for confining those who have broken our laws. The chickens are going to come home to roost.
hypocrites
January 11th, 2011
11:25 am
“Start forcing unannounced random drug screenings on all people receiving welfare checks (with the threat of being kicked off welfare if results are positive) and I believe you’d see a drop in drug use among the lower income individuals with the side benefit of taxpayer dollars not funding the drug trade.”
this doesn’t work because for many poor people, crime is the only way they have to better their situation. there aren’t enough jobs for everyone who wants one, and the poor are usually last on the list. if you deny them access to government benefits, their only way to survive and thrive is to commit crimes like prostitution, theft, and drug selling. you could say ‘well they don’t have to commit crimes’ but put yourself in their shoes for a moment – chronic unemployment, nobody will hire you, you’d be lucky if you can get a job for minimum wage, without benefits – i’d sell crack too.
besides, then you’d just be pushing the poor into alcoholism. i’d rather they become chronic potsmokers
Engineer
January 11th, 2011
12:22 pm
@hypocrites; Or they just quit the drugs for fear of losing their benefits. However, I was surprised that you didn’t try to exploit one loophole/flaw in the very thing I brought up (which I would have expected you, or somebody else, to jump on but you didn’t) that they could skirt the system by not using drugs while selling them (while I’m not endorsing people to do this, I am being intellectually honest with you and admitting that it my idea is not without fault). However, I personally believe the fear of losing all their benefits would be more than enough for many people to stay away from illegal drugs altogether (with emphasis on illegal drugs) and I would rather at least something be done than nothing.
CB
January 11th, 2011
1:03 pm
I work rehabilitating women addicts. Addiction is a huge problem. The unfortunate thing is that most addicts, when released from jail, will re-offend. I believe wholeheartedly in treatment…..but, just like someone mentioned in an earlier post….it will only work if and when the addict is committed…..So, you will still have overcrowded institutions (prisons & rehabs) along with funding issues. I say..why not make the penalties stronger for 1st time offenders?
GOP Cannon
January 11th, 2011
1:07 pm
The United States is one of the only industrialized nations that treats drug use as a crime rather than a disease… throughout Europe, drug abuse is treated through rehabilitation and out patient therapy, not locking people up. Jail time and harsh sentencing do not dissuade drug abuse… the US has one of the world’s biggest drug problems, yet we have the strictest laws.
Legalization would be the best option, but with Georgia being the social conservative capital of the world, I know that will never happen. Decriminalization and removing mandatory sentences for drug use would be a good start however. Lets clear out the drug users and make room for the violent offenders in our jails.
CB
January 11th, 2011
1:09 pm
We may have strict laws….but somehow they are not enforce correctly!!!! WHY?
CB
January 11th, 2011
1:09 pm
GOP Cannon…You have some good points!!! Some!!!
GOP Cannon
January 11th, 2011
1:32 pm
Thanks CB.
td
January 11th, 2011
2:23 pm
hypocrites
January 11th, 2011
11:25 am
“Start forcing unannounced random drug screenings on all people receiving welfare checks (with the threat of being kicked off welfare if results are positive) and I believe you’d see a drop in drug use among the lower income individuals with the side benefit of taxpayer dollars not funding the drug trade.”
this doesn’t work because for many poor people, crime is the only way they have to better their situation. there aren’t enough jobs for everyone who wants one, and the poor are usually last on the list. if you deny them access to government benefits, their only way to survive and thrive is to commit crimes like prostitution, theft, and drug selling. you could say ‘well they don’t have to commit crimes’ but put yourself in their shoes for a moment – chronic unemployment, nobody will hire you, you’d be lucky if you can get a job for minimum wage, without benefits – i’d sell crack too.
besides, then you’d just be pushing the poor into alcoholism. i’d rather they become chronic potsmokers
One wonders if there is a correlation between early drug and alcohol use and being poor and uneducated?