DRUG-TREATMENT MANDATE ASSESSED

Even as Fresno County law enforcement and drug treatment officials prepare
for life under Proposition 36, the arguments for and against the
controversial ballot measure continue.

"I think this is one of the worst things California's ever done," said
Larry Price, Fresno County's chief probation officer.

Prop. 36 -- which will send first- and second-time drug users to community
treatment programs instead of prison or jail -- passed by a wide margin
Tuesday. While that likely spells a heavy workload for probation officials,
others in law enforcement said it likely won't affect them directly.

"We don't keep these people in jail anyway," Sheriff Richard Pierce said.

"A very, very small percentage of inmates in jail at any one time are there
only as first and second offenders of possession of narcotics."

The arguments surrounding the proposition are simple. Opponents say it
would tie the hands of local courts and law enforcement while releasing
criminals onto the streets. Supporters say treatment not only would curb
some of California's drug problem, but also would be less expensive than
keeping the offenders in jail or prison.

For now, though, Price expects an overloaded and underfunded probation
department when the law takes effect July 1.

"Voters pass propositions and don't give any thought to how they'll be
funded," Price said. "They just left us hanging out there saying, 'You're
supposed to provide this new mandated service without a dime.'"

Price said his department is handling between 2,500 and 3,000 drug cases
among its 10,000 total cases. He expects that number to double by the end
of the law's second year.

"I spend $400,000 a year for testing now, but I wouldn't be surprised to
see it double also," he said.

Probation departments across the state have less than eight months to
crunch numbers and make it work. Meanwhile, the drug treatment community
will spend the same months figuring out exactly how it will benefit from
the influx of addicts sure to come its way.

"We've already had discussions about what this is going to mean for us,"
said Dennis Koch, program manager at the Eleventh Hour treatment facility
in Fresno. "We know it's going to increase business."

Koch said he expects a swift growth in demand for drug treatment
counselors, especially those experienced in dealing with the criminal
justice system. He also said he expects many new facilities to pop up in
Fresno and throughout the state.

In the long run, Koch said, taxpayers will benefit.

"It is so much cheaper for drug rehabilitation instead of prison that even
if both of them fail, we're saving a ton of money," Koch said.

He scoffed at the suggestion that addicts couldn't be forced into going
straight without the threat of prison or jail -- one of the pre-election
arguments against Prop. 36.

"I think it's going to have a more positive effect than the opponents are
expecting," Koch said. "They think a person has to want to change. Baloney.
We can make them want to change."

One thing that won't change, Pierce said, is jail overcrowding, which was
supposed to be one of the great benefits of the proposition.

"It's not going to have any affect, not at all," Pierce said.

Pierce discounted the argument that jails and prisons were filled with drug
users who had committed no other crimes.

"It's not even 5% of the jail population," he said. "Drug possessions not
hooked to another crime aren't the people we're ordinarily keeping in jail.

"I release 150 to 200 people a week because of overcrowding. I'm letting
out burglars and car thieves. I'm letting out people who are selling drugs,
not just the ones in possession. Those people are already the first to go."

Gary D. Hoff, presiding judge of Fresno County Superior Court, said drug
court officials are already looking into how Prop. 36 will affect that program.

"Potentially it could affect thousands of cases," Hoff said. "I was
satisfied with the current drug programs and the way they were operating."

Though Hoff didn't elaborate, Pierce wasn't shy about saying the
proposition will handcuff judges to some extent.

"There's no doubt this is going to weaken those systems that are already in
place," he said. "When you start removing any discretion at all with the
courts, who's going to be looking at a person's entire background and
making education decisions?"

Steve Hirasuna, owner of the Tower Recovery Center in Fresno, said the
proposition isn't about letting the drug users off without punishment, it's
about offering them a chance to get clean first.

"The whole goal here is to try to make them more productive members of
society," Hirasuna said.

"They're giving them two chances for treatment. If they mess that up, then
they go back to jail."

The reporter can be reached at mkreamer@fresnobee.com or 441-6208.