For years we’ve known that the war on drugs is a failure and that we should treat substance use disorder as a public health crisis. Substance use disorders are illnesses, not crimes to be punished. Criminalizing drug related behaviors has only served to overcrowd our prisons rather than help rehabilitate individuals.

But the Delaware legislature is currently considering two bills to continue the failed war on drugs. Senate Bill 100 would classify Tier 3 Drug Possession and Tier 3 Drug Manufacturing/Delivery/Intent as violent felonies, even though the behavior itself does not involve actual or threatened physical violence. Senate Bill 101 would establish quantity tiers specific to drug offenses involving fentanyl. These days it is rare to find street drugs that do not contain fentanyl in some amount — even drugs sold as cocaine or other illicit non-opiate substances often contain fentanyl. Adding quantity tiers for fentanyl would thus increase the penalty for the vast majority of drug possession cases.