Why A Middle Tennessee Lawmaker Proposes Lighter Drug Sentences But Tougher DUIs

The penalties for possessing many drugs could soon be reduced in Tennessee. But repeatedly driving while drunk could mean prison time.

Tennessee lawmakers are debating both ideas as a way to rebalance the state’s sentencing laws.

The two proposals come from William Lamberth, a Republican lawmaker and former prosecutor in Sumner County. They’re rolled into a single measure,
House Bill 1478, now being debated on the floor of the state House of Representatives.

Lamberth’s idea is to make possession of many drugs a misdemeanor — even for addicts arrested multiple times for using drugs like oxycodone, meth and cocaine.

He says striking felony possession from the state’s legal code wouldn’t necessarily mean less jail time for drug users, but it would make it easier for local judges to put addicts into treatment by keeping them out of the state penitentiary system. It would also keep drug users from getting felonies on their record, a mark that can stick with them for a lifetime.

“Felonies should be reserved for people who have committed violent crimes — and repeatedly, quite frankly — and have endangered the public,” says Lamberth. “I mean, that’s what a felony offense is. It’s a serious offense.”

Cutting the penalties for drug possession would also
save Tennessee about $2 million a year, according to a legislative analysis. Lamberth says that money could be put to use by giving longer prison sentences to people convicted of several DUIs, whom he argues are far more dangerous.

Lamberth proposes making a sixth DUI a Class C felony, a crime that carries up to 15 years in prison. Current law caps DUIs at six years in prison, with most people serving a year or so, says Lamberth.

“Those folks we have to lock up longer to protect all Tennesseans.”

The main complaint about Lamberth’s proposal is that it goes too far. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say tougher DUI penalties and lighter drug sentences should be debated separately, not presented as a tradeoff.

State Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, says it doesn’t make sense to treat marijuana possession as a felony. But tougher sentences could make sense for some drugs.

Lamberth has responded by exempting one drug — heroin — from the lighter sentences. But he says he’s not sure it’s appropriate to treat simple possession of even that drug harshly.