Who benefits from Cameron Douglas getting at least 10 years in prison? No one does. But the government is hell bent on punishing him for the crime of being an addict.

The 31-year-old son of Academy Award winner Michael Douglas took a guilty plea on Jan. 27 in New York for dealing drugs (nearly a half pound of crystal meth) that will land him in prison for at least 10 years to a maximum of life. This stems from a DEA investigation based on information from unidentified informants who were methamphetamine users and drug dealers. In other words, these rats gave Douglas up to save their own hides. In exchange for agreeing to be cooperating witnesses against him, they were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges.

I'm mad has hell about this. Why? In the '80s, I faced a similar fate that led to my 15-to-life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug sale in New York. So I know too well the routine the DEA went through to rope Douglas into a corner forcing him to take a plea deal. They scared the living crap out of him, telling him he would never see the light of day if he went to trial. Why would anyone in their right mind plead out to a 10-year minimum sentence? In the U.S., this type of behavior is standard in procuring drug convictions of low-level drug offenders who wind up doing more time than a murderer or rapist.

Douglas is a drug addict who has been hooked on heroin for the last five years. Why else would he compel his girlfriend to bring over a toothbrush containing 20 bags of dope while he was under house last August? He needs drug treatment, not a decade or more of hard time in prison.

The imprisonment of Douglas is immoral and counterproductive to public safety. By locking him and others like him up, our government is wasting resources that could otherwise be used to stop violent crime.

Today, there are over 500,000 Americans in prison for nonviolent drug-law violations. The cost of incarcerating such individuals is draining state and federal budgets, and producing idiotic solutions by politicians to make up for its burgeoning costs - like the recent cuts in health care, education and other social service programs.

It will cost tax payers an estimated $45,000 a year to keep Douglas in prison. His famous family and friends will no doubt mourn their loss while he rots away in a federal prison for being a nonviolent drug addict.

Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter or a medical problem? For most people, treatment is a much more effective way to overcome addiction, yet our prisons are full of drug addicts. Nonviolent drug offenders should be given an opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time. This would be a more effective and much more affordable solution for the individual and the community.

Thanks to the War on Drugs, and especially mandatory-minimum sentencing policies, average drug offenders like Cameron Douglas are sentenced to extraordinary amounts of time in prison. We need to end these draconian drug laws by offering drug-addicted individuals treatment instead of prison.

Update: Cameron Douglas Receive Five-Year Sentence

Facebook Cause: Cameron Douglas Needs Treatment, Not Jail Time

Anthony Papa is the author of 15 to Life and a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance. Follow him on Twitter.


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