Christie Tries to Sell His Drug Policy

Sometimes, Gov. Chris Christie's town hall forums are raucous.

But Thursday's event in Vineland turned into a more emotional venue where he talked about his plans to send nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of prison.

It's an idea he's been pushing for more than a month and was one of the main topics of his State of the State address last week. But it usually doesn't get as much attention as his proposal to reduce income taxes by 10 percent.

In Vineland, he said it would save money to send offenders to treatment -- and turn lives around. He cited a former intern of his who he said went from being a young heroin addict to a successful lawyer.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)