‘This is not hypothetical. This is real. This is what’s happening.’

Reduced sentences for drug crimes, unregulated treatment
centers causing immense problems, says prosecutor

The man had a long history of drug offenses. Yet, he wasn’t in jail for the most recent one. He was in a community-based program, being given a prescribed medication to wean him off the illegal drugs.

On this day, he was speeding down a county road. He ramped over a hill and when he came down, his vehicle crashed head-on into an oncoming car, injuring that driver.

A subsequent search of his car turned up syringes from a needle exchange program, paraphernalia containing drug residue and heroin.

That incident, which occurred in Washington County, perfectly sums up what Prosecutor Dustin Houchin believes isn’t working with Indiana’s current approach to drug offenders.

“He could be in jail or he could be in a community-based program,” said Houchin. “If he’s in a community-based program, this is what we’re going to get. There’s going to be more of this type of thing happen if we’re not incarcerating offenders.”

In 2014, the Indiana General Assembly rewrote the criminal code, drastically reducing sentences for drug offenses based on the belief that treatment is a better approach than imprisonment.

At about the same time as the code reform took effect, the drug problem spiraled out of control, escalating to epidemic proportions. It’s a perfect storm that, in Houchin’s estimation, leaves law-abiding citizens at a dramatically increased risk of becoming victims and does very little to help those struggling with addiction overcome it.

“My point is, it wouldn’t happen as often under the old system,” said the prosecutor. “There’s going to be more of this; more damage to the community and more damage to innocent people.”

The Indiana Prosecutor’s Association, of which Houchin is a member, actively fought against the code reform. They, however, were unsuccessful in dissuading legislators from moving forward. The reform moved the system from felony-based (A-D, which A being the most severe) to levels (one through six, with one being the most severe). And it dramatically decreased sentences for drug offenders, based on the belief that rehabilitation, not prison, is the best approach.

Houchin said one of the most stunning changes was the charge for possession of heroin over 3 grams. That offense used to be a Class A felony with a 30-year advisory sentence. It’s now a level 6 offense, with an advisory sentence of three years – a 27-year reduction.

“Most of the drug possession charges used to be B felonies as a standard,” said Houchin. “Now, they’re level six.”

Houchin said the message from the legislature is “that these people shouldn’t be going to jail – even when they commit a serious drug offense. They should be in the community in treatment, not jailed.”

The list of resulting problems with that idea, according to Houchin, is long.

Following the 2014 reforms “there was a near vertical spike in child neglect and abuse cases,” he said. Since the code reform, there has been a 63 percent increase in child abuse and neglect cases. And in 2017, 55 percent of the cases in which children were removed from the home were due to substance abuse.

“To me, that’s the clearest data, but there are other factors as well. Violent crime is up. Health care costs are increasing; there are HIV and Hepatitis A outbreaks,” he said. “We have needles in our streets. We didn’t have that five years ago. We have a homeless population we didn’t have five years ago. 

“It’s difficult to draw a direct link, but to me, it’s clear why these things are occurring.”

Read the full story, as well as several other stories on addiction, in a special section in The Salem Democrat on newsstands now.