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February 9th, 2005
"Prenatal drug possession bill discussion postponed"
Rep. Timothy Hutchinson, R-Lowell, agreed to postpone discussions of his bill that would stiffen drug possession penalties for pregnant Arkansas women.
Intended to deter the pregnant women from taking drugs, Hutchinson agreed to postpone the discussions of the bill until tomorrow when sentencing experts could estimate the impact the bill might have on the prison system.
The estimates will be rough, according to Hutchinson, because there are no statistics on the number of women caught with drugs when they are pregnant. Lawmakers question what impact the drug possession bill would have on women.
Hutchinson told the committee that the legislation is necessary in order to acknowledge the drug possession offenders among pregnant women, which makes infants victims of crime. While he admitted a law enhancing penalties for drug possession probably would not be a significant deterrent to women on highly addictive drugs, Hutchinson hopes casual drug users on drugs like marijuana would be affected by the legislation.
The drug possession bill would apply only to illegal drugs.
