PROP. 36 FAILS THE TEST

AMONG AMERICA`S knottiest judicial and public health dilemmas is how to deal
humanely and wisely with nonviolent users of illegal drugs.

Should people using and possessing heroin, cocaine, PCP, methamphetamine and
other dangerous and illegal drugs be treated as criminals and thrown in
jail? Or should they be viewed as victims of drug addiction who need
treatment and care, not punishment?

California voters will be asked next month to vote on Proposition 36, a
seriously flawed ballot initiative that offers a deceptively simple solution
to a profoundly complex drug epidemic that has defied law enforcement, the
courts and medical intervention.

Proposition 36 would require probation and treatment, not incarceration, for
first and second convictions for illegal drug possession and would provide
$120 million a year for the next 5 1/2 years for community-based
drug-treatment programs.

The measure would specifically prevent using the money for drug testing, the
key to any successful treatment program. Without testing, there is no way to
tell if addicts have actually stopped using drugs.

Proposition 36 would effectively decriminalize personal drug use, sabotage
the state's drug courts and remove most legal consequences of using illegal
drugs.

The measure offers a false promise of a kinder, gentler approach to drug
abuse in a state with the highest use of illegal drugs and the greatest
number of people behind bars on drug-related offenses.

The state Department of Corrections reports that 19,753 inmates are locked
up for drug possession, and about 45,460 are doing time for drug-related
crimes.

Proposition 36 would divert about 37,000 state and county prisoners to
community treatment programs without teeth and little incentive to make the
difficult life changes that giving up drugs requires.

Drug addiction is a pernicious condition that destroys individuals, breaks
up families and poisons communities as addicts resort to crime to support
their habits.

What California needs is more drug courts, specifically designed to deal
with drug offenders on an individual basis.

State drug courts bring together experts in law enforcement and therapy to
provide selected offenders with a treatment program -- with close monitoring
and tough consequences for failure. By contrast, Proposition 36 allows
repeat offenders to keep going through the arrest-and-treatment cycle with
no real incentive to break the habit.

Drugs and addiction are intransigent problems that require a humane but
no-nonsense approach for any hope of success.

Vote no on Proposition 36.