Some years ago I dated a man who, in his younger days, had spent considerable time in prison for serious drug dealing. He described his life in various prisons: boredom among both inmates and guards, cruelty inflicted by prisoners on one another along with cruelty by the guards, drug availability in virtually all prisons and jails, and the mind-deadening humiliation of being locked in a cage.

I thought, “We can do better than this.”

For years off and on I pondered how we could keep ourselves safe and, at the same time, not waste prisoners’ energies and talents, which could be put to good use by society.

We know that merely locking people in cages does not work; most end up back in prison again if they haven’t been given skills that are useful to society. Even then, ex-prisoners have a difficult time getting jobs; few employers want to hire them.

Another factor is the huge cost of standard prisons, which is now over $100. a day per inmate. Taxpayers cannot stand much more of this.

Given the nature of jails and prisons, I reasoned that prisoners would be glad to be out of their cages and doing something useful and productive with their time.

A few months ago, the Washington County Development Authority (WCDA), one of those “economic development” entities whose members are appointed by the governor and answerable to virtually no one, proposed borrowing millions with the State’s (taxpayers’) backing to build a prison in Washington County, lease it back to the State for more than it cost, and skim the profits to finance their pet projects.

Since that didn’t sound quite right to me, and since WCDA was looking for projects to fund with tens of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars they already had at their disposal, I quickly drew up a proposal for a 100-acre plus organic farm prison with green-built buildings, training in organic farming and all related skills etc.

This plan, somewhat modified, appeared in a Bangor Daily News Op-Ed piece on August 9, and is also on my website, http://www.cleanearth.net. There isn’t room for it here, so I hope you take a look at it and let me know what you think.

There was inner turmoil within WCDA because those who wanted to make a profit from building/leasing the new prison didn’t see how they could profit from an organic farm. However, those who liked the ideas prevailed, and they awarded me $2,000. to do a feasibility study. That’s not much money, of course, but it’s a start, and it gave the proposal legitimacy.

Then I sought and got more support for the idea. Washington County’s Sheriff, Donnie Smith, came out publicly for the plan, as did many other people in Hancock, Penobscot, Washington, and Waldo counties (many, of course, are fellow peace and justice activists).

There is also support in Augusta, but the private-prison-for-profit lobby is strong, so we will see what gets through the Legislature, which has to approve any plan and its funding.

After meeting in Augusta with Deputy Director of the Maine Dept. of Corrections, Denise Lord, I was appointed to the Machias-based prison planning committee. It’s an interesting group with divergent interests, but it will come up with a plan—unknown at this time—by early October for the Legislative Justice Committee to peruse and decide upon.

The basic premise is to build a “green building” prison with large organic gardens and attached greenhouses so the inmates can grow food for themselves and for needy people, as well use solar and wind power at the facility.

Also, the plan calls for literacy and work skills training.

Although it seems obvious that it’s better for society to produce productive citizens than career criminals, what we’ve been doing is producing more violent, experienced criminals. At the same time, we have to somehow stop extreme drug-trafficking, especially along the Canadian border, which is Washington County’s particular problem.

Oxycodone drugs (Oxycontin, Dilaudid, and other synthetic, heroin-like drugs) can be obtained for about 50 cents a pill in Canada. Drug dealers then bring them into the USA and sell them for $50-$100 apiece, an irresistible enticement to those who don’t care about our youth and their future.

Once addicted, it’s extremely difficult for anyone to stay off these very addictive drugs, even after a year or more of incarceration. We will have this problem with us for decades, even if all trafficking stopped right now.

Drug addiction is rife in all sectors of society Downeast: professionals, fishermen, Native Americans, young people without purpose in life, and anyone who can be convinced to “just try it.”

These drugs’ very addictive nature harms us all. We now have to lock cars and houses instead of trusting our neighbors as was always the custom, because addicts will steal from anyone, including their own families, to get money for these drugs. Furthermore, incarcerating more and more people in prisons and drug rehabilitation institutions adds enormously to societal costs.

I believe this organic farm will help (1) give the inmates skills to survive once they get out, (2) help pay back, with food and community service, some of the damage they’ve caused, and (3) give some of our young people courage and skills to stay off the seductive drugs, proving themselves good citizens so they can be a source of pride to their families and communities.

Nancy Oden lives in Jonesboro, Washington County, and is a long-time political and environmental activist. Her website is www.cleanearth.net.