DRUG REHAB EXPERIMENT STIRS FUNDING WORRIES IN CALIF.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The nation's biggest experiment in drug rehabilitation
begins Sunday in California amid warnings from Los Angeles County officials
that they do not have enough money to carry out their part.

Proposition 36, passed last fall by California voters, will require
treatment instead of prison or jail for the estimated 36,000 California
nonviolent drug users convicted each year of use or possession for the
first or second time. Treatment will range from counseling sessions to a
stint at a rehab center.

Arizona, the only other state with a similar program, diverts about 6,000
drug offenders a year to treatment.

California led the way in jailing drug users two decades ago and now locks
up more drug offenders per capita than any other state, at 115 people per
100,000 population. That is more than twice the national average.

Proponents of Proposition 36 said drug treatment addresses the root of the
problem and saves money in the long run by reducing the need for prisons.

Each of California's 58 counties has its own plan to carry out Proposition
36, which allocates $120 million a year for implementation statewide.

In Los Angeles County, California's biggest county with 9.5 million people,
officials say their program could be overwhelmed and underfunded when it
tries to handle a projected 17,000 cases - about one-third of the state's
expected eligible offenders - with $30 million in state money.

"The county's going to go into debt. We just don't know how much," said
Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan, who supervises the county's drug courts.

Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, California director for Phoenix Houses, one of
the nation's largest treatment providers, said she expects a fight between
counties and the state over which is responsible for providing any
additional funding.

"At this moment we clearly have many more clients than we have funding
for," said Stanley-Salazar, who sits on the state and Los Angeles County's
Proposition 36 implementation task forces. "We're building the
transcontinental railroad here, six inches at a time."

The initiative's supporters say officials are being alarmist.

"There's a lot of 'Chicken Little' going on in L.A.," said Whitney Taylor
of the Lindesmith Center, a policy research institute. She said it is too
soon to say whether the county will be overwhelmed.

Drug offenders who want to stay out of jail and get help from one of the
300 or so private treatment services in Los Angeles County will have to
enter a conditional guilty plea. They then will be supervised during
treatment by one of 26 special judges. Offenders' records are cleared if
they complete treatment.

Under the county's current drug treatment program, offenders are tested up
to six times a week during the early stages of treatment.

But no money has been set aside for testing under Proposition 36, which has
led to one of the most serious debates about the measure.

Treatment proponents say counties like Los Angeles test far more often than
necessary, driving up costs. Law enforcement officials say they need
periodic tests to ensure that offenders stay drug-free during treatment.

Both sides are supporting a bill in the Legislature that would provide an
additional $18 million statewide for drug testing.