DRUG-REFORM PLAN ADVANCED

Prop. 36 Backers Push Preparation For Treating 3,000 More Addicts A Month

SACRAMENTO -- Backers of the drug-reform Proposition 36 outlined an
ambitious program Wednesday to bridge their differences with the
measure's opponents and get the state ready to treat an additional
3,000 addicts a month by July 1.

The proposition, approved by an unexpected and overwhelming 61
percent of California voters Nov. 7, requires that judges send
offenders arrested a first or second time for possession to treatment
instead of jail or prison. It appropriated $120 million a year to pay
for treatment.

First, said spokesman Bill Zimmerman, Gov. Gray Davis must
immediately provide the Substance Abuse Treatment Trust Fund,
established by the new law, with $60 million for the first six months
of 2001. That money was due, he said, the day after the election.

``The state lacks the capacity at this point to accept 3,000 people a
month,'' Zimmerman said. The backers' concern is that they use the
time from now until the measure's July 1 effective date to expand
treatment, he said.

But a spokesman for Davis, who opposed Proposition 36, dismissed the
call for immediate funding, pointing out that the state won't even
certify the ballot until Dec. 5. Money for the measure is under
consideration as part of the annual budget review, said Steve
Maviglio.

Zimmerman, executive director of the California Campaign for New Drug
Policies, said the get-ready campaign also includes:

Discussions within a week with state officials to deal with key
problems, such as licensing and certification of community treatment
facilities. One session will include Kathryn Jett, appointed this
week as director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

Exploration of how the state and counties will provide the extra
probation officers needed to supervise the estimated 36,000 addicts a
year who will qualify for treatment instead of incarceration.

A statewide task force of those who deal with drug treatment and
enforcement to consider needed legislation and anticipate other
issues.

A public forum, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 15, at which
proponents and opponents can discuss implementation, including how to
develop a standard way to measure the proposition's success.

Zimmerman indicated much of the early groundwork will involve Jett's
department, which the proposition specified as primary overseer.
Backers didn't want to create any new bureaucracy, he said.

Despite an estimate by the state Legislative Analyst's Office that --
over time -- the proposition will save the taxpayers some $150
million to $200 million a year in jail and prison costs and another
$500 million in prison construction costs, the exact savings remain
unknown.

That's because the proposition prohibits district attorneys, judges
and program operators from using any of the appropriated money for
testing offenders for drug use. Also, no one knows how many
additional probation officers counties will need or what they will
cost.

``The initiative puts such a load on probation,'' Zimmerman admitted.

He said he might support legislation to provide additional money for
drug testing, but first he wants to look at how much the state spends
now. Backers believe the state over-tests in programs such as
drug-treatment courts.

But judges, prosecutors and many treatment program operators insist
no one can measure the effectiveness of drug treatment unless
participants are routinely tested.

Contact Ed Pope at epope@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5641. Mercury
News wire services contributed to this report. --