A DRUG TREATMENT LAW WORTH WATCHING

On July 1 California began a noble experiment.

Back in November its voters decided they were willing to make the
criminal justice system the primary source of drug treatment in the
state to the tune of $120 million a year. Proposition 36, which was
approved by 61 percent of voters, will require treatment instead of
jail time for most first- and second-time drug offenders.

Because California is the most populous state, the nation will be
watching to see what happens there. Residents of Florida should pay
particular attention because there is a nascent movement here to get
voters to approve a measure modeled after California's Proposition 36
that would require courts to offer treatment to certain drug
offenders.

Supporters recently registered with the secretary of state's office
in Tallahassee as the first step toward getting the constitutional
amendment on the 2002 ballot. The ``Right to Treatment and
Rehabilitation for Nonviolent Drug Offenders'' would force judges to
grant treatment or rehabilitation, if they want it, to those charged
with simple possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia.

Before California's law took effect on Sunday, Los Angeles County
officials warned it needed more money. They have projected 17,000
cases, and Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan, who supervises the
county's drug courts, said: ``The county's going to go into debt. We
just don't know how much.''

In other words, treatment may be cheaper in the long run than
incarceration, but initial costs will be in addition to the cost of
running the state prisons.

Also, many people who enter treatment go back to drugs, some dropping
out before finishing their program. The high-profile cases of actor
Robert Downey Jr. and baseball player Darryl Strawberry - individuals
who had access to the best treatment available - remind us that
treatment is no sure cure.

The voters in California, however, said they want to give drug
rehabilitation a try, and they are willing to pay for it. Because of
the size of this experiment, it will provide lessons for the rest of
the nation, and we should monitor the results, good and bad, and
learn from them.