CALIFORNIA PREPARING FOR NEW DRUG-USE LAW

LOS ANGELES - Proposition 36 Requires Certain Drug Offenders Be Treated As
Patients Instead Of Criminals

Drug treatment centers, courts and probation departments throughout
California are scrambling to prepare for the July 1 implementation of
Proposition 36, a citizens initiative passed in November that requires
authorities to treat first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders as
medical patients instead of criminals.

To cope with the expected 35,000 or more offenders, rehabilitation
facilities are adding new wings and beefing up counseling staff.

Prosecutors in San Diego County and elsewhere are pushing for the
establishment of specialized courts - with dedicated judges and substance
abuse experts - to exclusively handle Proposition 36 cases.

The Orange County Probation Department is recruiting new officers, putting
it in competition with most other probation departments in the state for a
limited pool of candidates.

California and Arizona have gone the farthest in decriminalizing nonviolent
drug use, raising the issue's profile nationally and spurring about 10
other states this year to consider a similar philosophical shift.

Arguing that the multibillion-dollar drug war has been a colossal failure,
legislatures in New York, Hawaii, Arkansas and elsewhere are considering
revisions to mandatory sentence laws for low-level drug offenders and may
provide millions of dollars to augment drug diversion programs.

Last month, the New Mexico Legislature approved five drug bills proposed by
Republican Gov. Gary Johnson, an ardent supporter of decriminalizing drugs.
Included in the package are measures that wig allocate $6 million to expand
treatment services and allow women imprisoned for drug offenses to serve
the last 18 months of their sentence in treatment.

Despite the momentum, some are arguing states should put the brakes on
decriminalizing illegal drugs until more scientific evidence is gathered to
determine whether the approach works.

Under Proposition 36, the state will allocate $60 million this year and
$120 million annually thereafter to treat an estimated 35,000 first- and
second-time nonviolent drug offenders. Third-time offenders and drug
dealers would face incarceration.

A state legislative analysis said the law will save $200 million a year in
incarceration expenses and $575 million in one-time costs by eliminating
the construction of a planned prison.

But probation departments and prosecutors argue Proposition 36 patients
would fill up treatment slots, making it more difficult for other drug
users to receive rehabilitation. They assert the law will only expand
superficial and ineffective treatment services because the $120 million
state allocation is inadequate when spread among the state's 58 counties.

And they lament the fact the law provides no money to administer drug
tests, which are needed to ensure participants are staying clean.