A new law takes effect tomorrow in Washington State that will allow the release of seriously ill offenders from prison prior to the end of their sentence. The law does not permit the release of offenders who are serving a life sentence without parole or who have been sentenced to death. The policy behind the bill is purely economic. According to local Olympian AP reporter Rachel La Corte's article, this bill could save the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) up to $800,000 in the next few years.
Every Washington State prison is equipped with full medical and dental facilities. Indeed, for many DOC inmates, the only medical care they receive is through the prisons during periods of incarceration. I have heard those sentenced to DOC reference the "tune up" they will get (in the form of medical care) once they reach prison. This irony will not be lost on, John Ray Wilson, a man from New Jersey who suffers from MS and has no health insurance. Wilson sought alternative forms of treatment when all other options grew to costly. Such treatment including bee venom therapy and ingesting cannabis from his home grown marijuana plants. The state discovered Wilson's plants and charged him with operating a drug manufacturing facility. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, where he would finally have access to medical care. The case has not yet gone to trial, but the Judge has already ruled that Wilson's attorney can not admit evidence that Wilson grew the marijuana in attempt to medicate his own illness.
