FAILURE RATE HIGH FOR PILOT PROGRAM IN O.C.

About 40% do not complete treatment, leading some judges and
prosecutors to fear the measure is too lax to ensure compliance.

As Proposition 36 takes effect across the state, officials are viewing
with concern an Orange County pilot program in which 40% of defendants
who received drug treatment failed to complete the program.

More than 700 defendants have taken part over the last few months in
what was designed as a transition to the treatment programs that
thousands of drug offenders statewide are now eligible for under the
voter-approved initiative. Roughly 300 of the participants did not
complete the treatment because they stopped showing up for meetings,
began using drugs again or were arrested for new drug offenses.

The data--the most extensive barometer so far of how statewide drug
treatment might fare--leave some judges and prosecutors pessimistic,
fearing that Proposition 36 is too lax to ensure widespread success.
"I just wonder if these people are going to be motivated to pursue a
treatment program," said Superior Court Judge Ronald Kreber. "I don't
know that there's much the court can do to motivate them."

Kreber and others point out that the 40% failure rate is far above the
22% for Orange County's Drug Court, which has operated for nearly a
decade with stricter rules than Proposition 36.

For example, Drug Court defendants can be tested as often as four
times a week, whereas in the new program, some participants are tested
every two weeks. Drug Court also allows authorities to put defendants
back in jail for violations--a sanction that resonates deeply with
participants, Kreber said.

"We're breathing down their necks all the time," he
said.

Although the pilot program's results fell short of the Drug Court
record, they compare favorably with voluntary drug treatment centers.
Nationally, the success rate for drug addiction treatment is 40% to
60%, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a branch of
the National Institutes for Health.

Orange County is the only county in the state that began a large-scale
pilot program before the mandated July 1 start-up of Proposition 36,
according to the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation in
Sacramento. Consequently, program results are being scrutinized by
officials throughout California.

(San Diego County also conducted a pilot program but severely
restricted enrollment, admitting only 25 offenders. Of that number,
six were eliminated for failing to appear or for repeat offenses.)

Although some officials are expressing pessimism over Orange County's
results, Proposition 36 supporters said that the failure rate is
respectable for a program in its infant stages and that more
defendants will complete the treatment with time.

It's the nature of addiction, they said, that even motivated
participants will stumble along the road to full recovery.

"What it should be is a system of working with people instead of
growing impatient with them and locking them away," said Tom Havlena,
Orange County's senior assistant public defender.

Proposition 36 supporters believe success rates will gradually rise as
the program moves forward.

"Right now we're probably pulling in the most highly addicted," said
Whitney Taylor of the Lindesmith Center, which championed Proposition
36 and is working with 11 counties to tailor their treatment programs.

Officials say that 3,500 to 4,500 drug offenders are expected to seek
treatment each year in Orange County. Many of the cases involve
addiction to methamphetamines and heroin, officials said. In Los
Angeles County, about 20,000 people a year are expected to be treated.

Formal implementation of Proposition 36 this month marks the biggest
shift in criminal justice policy since state voters passed the
three-strikes sentencing law in 1994. Under the measure, nonviolent
offenders convicted of possessing drugs for personal use are placed on
probation and in treatment programs paid for by the state. Those who
sell or manufacture drugs do not qualify.

Unlike Drug Court, which often involves three to five years of
treatment, Proposition 36 enrolls addicts for treatment for up to one
year, with no more than six additional months of after-care.

Orange County officials said they weren't sure exactly what to expect
at the start of their pilot treatment program but learned quickly that
casual drug users were rare.

"The biggest thing we saw was that a lot of people eligible for
Proposition 36 were pretty heavily addicted and have been for many
years," Kreber said. "I didn't realize it would be so severe. I've
dealt with individual cases over the years, but when I suddenly saw it
as a group, I said, 'Whoa.' "

Kreber said it was not uncommon for program participants to say they
had been addicted to drugs as long as 15 years. San Diego officials
found a similar pattern in their smaller study.

Under Proposition 36, the state pays all treatment costs. Orange
County's pilot program, however, was voluntary and participants paid
for treatment. Kreber and others said this makes the results even more
disappointing because those who took part had extra motivation to
complete treatment.

Havlena, the public defender, said he believes the fact that
Proposition 36 treatment is free will make it more successful than the
pilot program.

"The biggest problem, from a defendant's perspective, is that people
with drug addictions aren't fully employed," he said.