March 21, 2018

Barbara LaWall
Pima C•unty Alt• rney

Pima Cuunty Atturn1y'1Dffic1
32 N. Stone Avenue. #1400
Tucson. AZ 85701
Phone: 520-724-5600
www.pca• .pima.gov

Kathy Brody, Legal Director
ACLU of Arizona
P.O. Box 17148
Phoenix, Arizona 85011
Re:

kbrody@adu.org

Mi,;/ca.ding Solicitation

Dear Ms. Brody:
I write at the suggestion of Steve Kilar, Communications Director for the ACLU of
Arizona(" ACLU"), lo request fom1ally that the ACLlJ cease and desist from
disseminating a misleading solicitation concerning me and my Office. My Chief
Deputy, Amelia Craig Cramer, spoke yesterday with Mr. Kilar who urged that I put
my concerns in writing addressed to you.
TI1e ACLU has disseminated a solicitation to its membership and others
encouraging them to urge me lo withdraw support for HB2241. Reasonable minds
may cliffer with regards lo the wisdom of this particular Bill, and I am not
complaining about the fact that the ACLl T has urged its membership and others to
contact me urging me lo alter my position on the proposed legislation. However, I
am complaining about the fact that the ACLl l's solicitation contains the misleading
and inaccurate suggestion that the Bill would "force Arizonans suffering from drug
addiction into prisons for years without treatment." In addition, the ACLO's
solicitation falsely suggests that I support putting those suffering from addiction in
prison. Tiris is simply untrue.
I have always been a strong advocate and a provider of treatment and prevention
for persons suJTering from addiction. I started the first drug court in Pima County
more than twenty years ago. I am dedicated to helping those suffering from
substance abuse disorders with diversion from prosecution.
My Office leads the way in Arizona, and in the nation, with the Drug Treatment
Alternative to Prison program (DTAP), which provides residential treatment to
addicts who would otherwise be headed to prison. TI1e DTAP program has
reduced recidivism and saved lives, while also saving Pima County taxpayers
millions of dollars. It has a rolling success rate of 65%.
Contrary to the statement disseminated in the ACLlJ's solicitation, HB 2241 does
NOT punish individual drug users who possess or use these drugs to feed their
addictions, and it is highly misleading to suggest that HB 2241 would punish drug
users by sending them to prison. This Bill increases the sentence for convicted drug
traflickers and drug dealers who flood our community with the deadly poisons of
fentanyl, carfentanyl, and heroin. It docs NOT punish those who are arrested for
simple drug possession.

 Kathy Brody, Legal Director
ACLU of Arizona
March 21, 2018
Page 2
We are dealing today with an increasingly severe state and local opioid epidemic.
Every day more than 115 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. TI1e Centers
for Disease Control show that opioid deaths in 2016 spiraled to 42,000. Heroin is
one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs on the market, and fentanyl, I 00
times stronger than morphine, is even more potent. Increasingly, we are seeing
heroin mixed with fentanyl. Fentanyl is so deadly and dangerous that DEA has put
out a briefing guide on how lo handle it and it has changed how first responders do
their jobs. A very tiny amount accidentally absorbed through the skin or
inadvertently inhaled is enougl1 to send a grown man to t11e emergency room.
As a prosecutor, I have personally witnessed t11e ravages of drug addiction. Tilis is
why I figl1t to seek. funding to maintain the DTAP program and help t11ose suffering
from addiction to have the option of treatment instead of prison. It is also why I
support increased penalties in HB 2211 for t11ose drug dealers and traffickers who
supply the deadly and insidious poisons that endanger the lives of so many.

I hope the ACLU will urge legislators lo continue to fund t11e Pima CoW1ty
Attorney's DTAP program.
Meanwhile, I ask that the ACLl I correct its erroneous statements and cease and
desist from further disseminating the misleading solicitation.
Sincerely,

/J;L,
1)
Barbara

/4J.-«_

c'-. 0LaWall
Pima County Attorney

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