First Time Drug Offenders May Now Be Sentenced To Rehab Instead Of Prison

A dramatic switch in the states prison policy. Now some drug offenders won't have to go to jail. Governor Cayetano signed the bill into law Friday morning. It allows first time drug offenders to be sentenced to rehabilitation instead of prison. The switch could dramatically change the face of Hawaii's prison population.

For years the state considered drug offenders threats to public safety and sent them to prison. Now officials view the issue as a public health problem. That's welcome news to supporters who say drug offenders are people who need help.

At times Dancetta Feary thought she'd never be in the Governor's office celebrating the end of this dream.

"I know this is what Mackey wanted, for people like him to have a fighting chance," said Dancetta.

She means Mackey Feary, her brother the famous local musician, her brother who struggled with drug addiction and finally died in prison.

"I think of the struggle he went through, and then I think I can do it because he tried so hard."

Now instead of adding to the prison population, first time non-violent drug offenders will receive treatment. That change in policy took supporters three years to get passed by state lawmakers.

"So it's a chance, they got a chance now. It's not just lock them, throw them in jail and throw away the key."

Over crowding may already force prison officials to set free 300 inmates. The new drug treatment law could streamline that process.

"Short timers who may have been in there for drug offenses, getting them out of the prison and getting them into drug treatment programs," said Cayetano.

The State hopes to address both the drug treatment and over crowding issues simultaneously by constructing a new correctional facility right in Halawa, next to the existing prison.

With prisons overflowing with inmates, the State feels some urgency to step up its drug treatment programs.

"Very few families in this State have not been affected, either directly or indirectly, by drug treatment problems," said Cayetano.

Families like Dancetta Feary's. Her brother Mackey's story may be over but in this new law his legacy lives on .

"I know there's a song being written about a day like today, somewhere up there," said Dancetta.

Late Friday afternoon State Representative Galen Fox issued a statement criticizing the new law. Fox says the program puts dangerous criminals back on the streets.