While a number of issues stand to divide Democrats from Republicans, one growing problem is uniting them to find a solution. According to a report in the State Bill News, drug addiction and crime are serving as the catalyst to unite leaders and the attorney general and state Public Defender’s Office as they aim to reduce sentencing for drug offenders while also identifying treatment opportunities from the cost savings.

House Bill 1352 encompasses these initiatives and was introduced in the House this past week with wide-ranging bipartisan sponsorship. Attorney General John Suthers noted that it is a rare day when the Public Defender’s Office and the attorney general appear together in support of a bill.

One key element to this bill is that it creates a distinction between possession of drugs and distribution of drugs through the reduction of sentencing for possession. It also focuses on treatment instead of incarceration for those drug offenders who are primarily addicts and not necessarily criminals.

The bill is sponsored primarily by Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, Sens. Pat Steadman, D-Denver and Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield and is based upon recommendations from the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. The core issue within this bill emerged out of recommendations that jailing non-violent drug offenders is not the best use of public-safety dollars.

“Incarceration is really not the right answer. The real problem with most prisoners is addiction,” said Steadman, in the State Bill News. “We need to be smarter with public resources by not simply warehousing drug addicts.”

Sponsors and supporters of this bill say the use of state resources for treatment leading to recovery will help to cut down on recidivism and save the state money in the long run. They also argue that it could help to prevent many crimes from being committed in the first place.