Hartford — Changes in Connecticut's drug laws have cut in half the number of people in jail awaiting trial for simple drug possession, according to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration.

The state Office of Policy and Management said 83 people were in pretrial detention Wednesday on drug possession charges in Connecticut, down from 166 in October.

Mike Lawlor, the state's undersecretary for criminal justice policy, said that's because bails have been much lower since the crime was reclassified on Oct. 1 from a felony, which had a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, to a misdemeanor.

"The higher the potential sentence, the higher the bail," Lawlor said. "So, most of the people who can't make bail are very poor drug addicts, who can't make any bail, no matter how small. The idea is that these people need treatment. Putting them in jail doesn't help the problem."

Those in prison after being sentenced for drug possession also is down, from 341 in October to 277.

Lawlor says most of those were sentenced for crimes committed before the law changed, and he expects to see those numbers drop sharply in the future.

The change in the drug law is part of Malloy's Second Chance Society initiative, which also eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.