Poll Shows Maryland Voters Favor Shorter Sentences and Drug Treatment for Non-Violent Crimes

A new poll released by The Campaign for Treatment Not Incarceration finds that an overwhelming majority of Maryland voters—by a margin of almost seven to one—see treatment as more effective at stopping drug use than prison, and most believe that the state is not doing enough to provide treatment to people in need. The poll found strong support for criminal justice reforms including the following reducing lengthy sentences, abolishing mandatory minimums, and diverting nonviolent offenders from prison into treatment.

The Campaign for Treatment Not Incarceration, organized by OSI-Baltimore grantees, is a coalition dedicated to making Maryland safer and more just by reducing the state’s reliance on incarceration and expanding effective treatment programs. Made up of civil rights organizations, women’s groups, treatment providers, policy specialists, communities of faith, defense attorneys, and other concerned groups, the coalition seeks to push policy makers to expand drug treatment and reform Maryland’s criminal justice policies.