D.A. WON'T LET UP ON DRUG OFFENDERS

The Kern County District Attorney's office will continue to prosecute
drug-possession cases despite a ballot measure requiring treatment of
nonviolent drug users.

District Attorney Edward Jagels had said he might stop some of the drug
prosecutions affected by the November passage of Proposition 36, saying the
measure all but legalizes narcotics in some cases.

But Jagels said last week he has decided, for now, to continue investing
resources in those prosecutions, even though drug users affected by the
state measure cannot be jailed.

Those offenders will at least be under the supervision that goes along with
probation, Jagels said.

And they can be imprisoned if they violate probation for non-drug reasons,
Jagels said.

Other details about changes in the prosecution of such offenders still must
be worked out before the measure takes effect July 1, Jagels said.

Many users already are sentenced to drug-treatment programs instead of
jail, but the programs will be less effective in many cases without the
threat of incarceration for those who fail, prosecutors have complained.

The measure was needed because just sending people to prison ignores the
addictions causing the problems in the first place, said Kern public
defender Mark Arnold. Treatment in those cases is a better use of public
funds than prisons, Arnold said.

"If one thing has been proven by the war on drugs, it's that the current
system does not work," Arnold said. "We have a large drug problem on our
hands."

The new law allocates $120 million a year across the state for treatment
programs.

Many Kern programs already have waiting lists. The new funds will not go
far, said Kern's chief probation officer, Larry Rhoades.

"You're talking about a massive program," Rhoades said.

Many effects of the new law remain unclear, such as what penalties are
available when people fail court-ordered drug tests, Rhoades said.

He said he is waiting for legal guidance from state officials on such
questions.