DRUG-OFFENDER TREATMENT MEASURE WINS

Proposition 36's effort to send certain nonviolent drug offenders to
treatment instead of prison won a solid victory Tuesday.

Backed by New York financier and philanthropist George Soros, Cleveland
insurance magnate Peter Lewis and Phoenix adult school executive John
Sperling, the hotly contested measure was winning, 60 percent to 40 percent
with nearly three-fourths of the votes counted.

The measure was opposed by prosecutors, law enforcement authorities and
most statewide officials, who contended it would decimate the state's
system of court-sanctioned drug treatment.

But Dave Fratello, campaign manager for the California Campaign for New
Drug Policies, said California voters were ready for a change after 30
years of the war on drugs and its increasing punishments for drug offenders.

"We're excited, but this is what we set out to do," Fratello said. "We were
careful to measure the temperature of voters before we put it on the ballot."

Jean Munoz, spokeswoman for Californians United Against Drug Abuse, which
opposed the measure, called it "a Trojan horse" for the drug legalization
movement.

"Sadly, the voters have been misled by three out-of-state millionaires,"
she said. "Their objective is to legalize drugs."

The initiative mandates drug treatment instead of jail or prison for
virtually anyone convicted of possessing or being under the influence of
illegal drugs, including harder substances such as heroin, cocaine, PCP and
methamphetamine.

First- and second-time offenders automatically will be placed in treatment
programs upon their conviction. Drug offenders convicted in subsequent
cases also could qualify for the provisions of the initiative, but would be
subject to 30-day jail terms if judges found they were not amenable to
treatment.

Proposition 36 proposes $120 million to fund the treatment programs.
Opponents, however, criticized the measure because none of the money could
be used for drug testing, which they said is a crucial component of making
sure that treatment programs work.

Fratello said the measure's backers would favor finding money for drug
testing, but said that overall, the proposition will work as written and
doesn't need fine-tuning.

"In general, the sky is not going to fall," he said.

The nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst's Office estimated that
Proposition 36 would divert 36,000 people from California's prisons and
jails. The reduction in the prison population would save the state $200
million to $250 million a year and local governments $40 million annually
in operations costs, the analyst's office said. The initiative also would
indefinitely delay construction of a new prison at a cost of up to $550
million, according to estimates by the analyst's office.

Supporters of Proposition 36 said the initiative would reduce crime by
forcing drug addicts into more rigorous treatment programs sooner and
making them deal with underlying problems that prompted their criminal
behavior. Opponents said the initiative would have the opposite effect on
crime, releasing addicts back onto the street, where they would continue to
rob and steal.

The initiative's backers say its treatment provisions will provide
residential and outpatient services to thousands of addicts who desperately
need but can't afford them. Proposition 36 detractors, however, said the
treatment authorized by the initiative will be rendered ineffective by
limiting judges' options in imposing consequences on offenders who didn't
take the programs seriously.

"The people who are going to suffer under Proposition 36 are the drug
addicts who need effective drug programs," Munoz said. "It will cripple our
drug court program by eliminating judicial discretion."

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer opposed Proposition 36, saying the
initiative would place too many restrictions on judges' ability to deal
with lower-level drug offenders. The state's drug court judges stridently
opposed the measure, as did most law enforcement management and labor
groups, and Gov. Gray Davis.A number of Democratic legislators, led by
state Sens. John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara and Richard Polanco of Los
Angeles, supported Proposition 36, as did Tom Campbell, the Republican
candidate for U.S. Senate.Fratello said that voters recognized that the law
enforcement approach to drug addiction hasn't worked, and were ready to try
a change. Voters in other states also approved steps to roll back the
excesses of the war on drugs, he said, including legalizing the medicinal
use of marijuana.

Far from being a step toward legalizing drugs, he said, Proposition 36 is
actually "a step to the middle." Soros, Lewis and Sperling contributed more
than approximately $1 million each to fund the overall campaign.