LOCAL AGENCIES BRACE FOR PROP. 36 TO TAKE EFFECT

Treatment : New law puts drug offenders into rehabilitation centers instead
of jail cells.

Zero hour is here and local agencies are bracing for a state law that sends
nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of jail.

Prop. 36 takes effect today and courts are set to start funneling drug
offenders into treatment Monday, the first business day under the new law.

Under the proposition, an estimated 36,000 Californians a year will qualify
for a treatment program instead of jail or prison time with a first or
second arrest for being under the influence of illegal drugs or possessing
them.

It appropriates $120 million a year to expand existing drug treatment
programs statewide and will make $60 million more available to boost
treatment capacity immediately.

The New York-based Lindesmith Center offered San Bernardino County some
harsh criticism this week, giving it the

only failing grade in a report card judging the preparations of
California's 11 largest counties from reports they submitted to the state
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The Lindesmith Center was formed by billionaire financier George Soros and
worked to push the law into existence when it was before voters in November.

The drug policy foundation criticized the county's budget for drug
treatment, lack of treatment services and failure to involve the public in
planning meetings.

"San Bernardino County has ignored the will of the voters," the report
says. "It has designed an implementation plan that is likely to fail."

The foundation gave San Francisco County an A and Los Angeles County a B minus.

Whitney Taylor, director of implementation for Prop. 36 at the Lindesmith
Center, said San Bernardino County is missing several programs they think
are important, including literacy and vocational programs for recovering
drug addicts and family housing.

"We think that's very important because not only do we have to get people
off drugs, we have to help them become productive members of society and
their families," she said.

David Wert, county spokesman, said he didn't put much credence in the
failing grade.

"Any contention that the county isn't taking this seriously is ridiculous,"
he said.

He cited the drug court program as a model for the country.

Drug Court accepts mainly people who would be eligible for treatment
through Proposition 36 and does not admit people who were caught selling or
making drugs.

Charges are dismissed when the offender finishes a yearlong program and
another six months of drug treatment.

If the offender backslides, the judge uses jail time as punishment. But
under Prop. 36, the stick in the carrot-and-stick equation is no longer
much of an option.

"That's the problem," Wert said. "That stick and carrot approach has worked
very successfully in San Bernardino County.

"Jail time has been found to be very good motivation to help people get
clean," he continued. "Not mollycoddling has made San Bernardino County
very successful in keeping people out of jail."

Wert said people associated with the county's 70 percent success rate are
leery of the untested Prop. 36.

"The county believes the approach the county has taken will be successful
in the long run," he said. "We don't have same confidence in Prop. 36."

Superior Court Judge Margaret Powers runs Victorville's Drug Court program
and said she's not all that worried about it being eclipsed by Prop. 36.
She said she expects the programs to run parallel instead.

"There are people who are eligible for Drug Court who are not eligible for
Prop. 36," Powers said.

"There will be some overlap. Some people, if they qualify, will opt out of
Drug Court and go into Prop. 36. It is their option."

Cheryl Norton is community relations director with St. John of God Health
Care Services, a drug rehabilitation center in Victorville.

She said workers there are ready for an influx, but unsure of what to expect.

"It's a new project and it's going to be hard the first one or two years to
put everything together," she said. "Trial and error."

St. John of God has the only 90-day recovery home in the High Desert, she
said, as well as a 30-bed outpatient facility. The residential program has
66 beds, 13 of which are now reserved for Prop. 36 clients.

"We're prepared for anything that comes our way," Norton said.

County officials expect to refer up to 6,500 people into Prop. 36 treatment
programs the first year, the vast majority of whom will be outpatient,
according to its Prop. 36 plan.

Wert did not have an estimate on how many people will enter the treatment
programs through Prop. 36 locally.

"Often times the county falls short in providing services to the High
Desert simply because there aren't that many services available," Wert said.

The county Board of Supervisors approved contracts with 32 treatment
centers countywide worth $18 million at its Tuesday meeting.

Taylor said she hoped the Lindesmith Center's report had enough of a Ghost
of Christmas Future quality to prompt change.

"The thing we have to remember is that these grades can be easily improved
by the county by just a shift in tone from a criminal issue to public
health," she said.

"San Bernardino County will find it bumpy and will hopefully say 'Hmmm,
maybe we should go back and look at how we're approaching this.' "