COUNTY TO DOUBLE DRUG REHAB SPACES

Prop. 36 Mandates Treatment Replace Jail

The number of people in government-funded drug treatment programs in Contra
Costa will double to about 2,000 because of Proposition 36, county
officials said yesterday.

To place all those drug users in treatment, the Board of Supervisors
approved a plan yesterday to administer $3.1 million in new state funds the
county will receive annually.

California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36 last November
despite the opposition of most law enforcement groups. It requires that
first- and second-time drug offenders be placed in treatment instead of
behind bars.

The law also forces every county to add new resources to drug treatment
programs to accommodate people who would have gone to jail or prison earlier.

"It's new territory," conceded Health Services Administrator William Walker,

whose department developed the county's plan. "It's because the voters are
fed up. How many prisons are we going to build?"

Statewide, the measure calls for allocating $120 million annually toward
treatment divided among each county. Los Angeles County put its Sheriff's
Department in charge of its local program, while others, like Contra Costa,
have picked the health department.

In Contra Costa, officials plan to spend about 67 percent of the $3.1
million on treatment programs, 26 percent on probation, and 6.5 percent on
the county's superior courts.

In December, a state report predicted local officials will have big
problems implementing Proposition 36 by the July 1 legal deadline, because
of the lack of vacancies in treatment programs.

From July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2000, Contra Costa had 9,664 clients
in its various substance abuse treatment programs.

Adding up to 1,000 more people to the system will require more counselors,
residential space, and additional probation officers, county officials said.

Participants will likely range from hard-core drug addicts to weekend pot
smokers. Some may be eager to participate, while others could be quite
resistant.

"We may end up getting a lot of parolees," said Steve Loveseth, manager of
the county's Substance Abuse Services Division. "People are going to come
into this program and they'll fail."

Much also depends on how the district attorney's office decides to treat
people arrested for drug offenses, especially if they face additional
criminal charges, such as breaking and entering.

The district attorney's office is still formulating an official policy for
dealing with Proposition 36, officials said.

Contra Costa Probation Officer Steve Bautista said he welcomed the
challenge of trying to rehabilitate substance abusers before putting them
behind bars.

"The intent of the law is good," said Bautista. "We're excited about it."