COUNTY CRAFTS PLAN TO TREAT DRUG ABUSERS UNDER PROP. 36

County officials are moving closer to a plan to implement Proposition 36,
the sweeping measure that calls for treatment instead of jail for some drug
addicts, but some key issues are unresolved.

"We're plowing some virgin territory," Rich Robinson, a deputy chief
administrative officer with the county, said at a community forum at
Mission Bay yesterday.

Proposition 36, passed by voters in November, calls for drug treatment
instead of jail for first-and second-time drug offenders convicted of
nonviolent, drug-possession charges. They will be placed on probation and
ordered into a drug-treatment program for up to a year.

Yesterday's forum was attended by representatives from numerous
drug-treatment programs and nonprofit agencies who will provide treatment
for the offenders.

A task force of representatives from the court system, county government,
the Probation Department, the District Attorney's Office and the county
Public Defender have been meeting for months to put together a plan, said
Robinson.

Current estimates are that 5,000 Proposition 36 cases per year will enter
the court system. The measure allocates $120 million per year statewide,
with San Diego County's share estimated at about $9 million.

But that is not enough to offset estimated costs of running the program
that Robinson said could run as high as $21 million three years from now.

Those figures do not include revenues that will be collected to offset the
costs. Those sentenced to treatment will be expected to pay all or part of
the costs associated with the treatment, Vaughn Jeffery, a project manager
for the county, said after the meeting.

"We'll have to do everything we can to find additional revenues that we can
apply to the program," said Jeffery.

Officials are also struggling to find treatment space for the new cases. Al
Medina, alcohol and drug services administrator for the county, said 300 or
400 additional beds for intensive residential treatment will be needed.

Those needing residential treatment are expected to be only a small portion
of the total, with most offenders requiring nonresidential services.
Currently, the county has contracts for proving drug treatment with 60
providers in about 40 locations, Robinson said.

Those providers can increase their capacity by about 2,000 spaces, said
Jeffery. That leaves a potential shortfall of several thousand treatment
spaces, meaning either new programs will have to be licensed and set up or
current providers will have to expand.

But that could be a problem, because proposals to establish drug-treatment
facilities can run into a buzz saw of neighborhood opposition, officials said.