Two weeks after federal judges ordered California to reduce its prison population, the state may increase funding to police anti-drug units, potentially putting more offenders behind bars, reports the Los Angeles Times. An advisory board for the California Emergency Management Agency is expected to decide today whether to channel $33 million in federal money to narcotics task forces that have proved adept at apprehending drug criminals.
Critics of government drug policies say that money should instead be directed to drug-treatment programs whose funding has been sliced amid California’s budget woes. “While one side of the government is addressing prison overcrowding, another side seems to be acting directly counter to that goal,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance. The bulk of the money is slated to help multi-jurisdictional task forces in all 58 California counties that investigate and apprehend narcotics offenders.