MAKING IT WORK

California voters made a clear statement in November when they
approved Proposition 36, the purpose of which is to divert drug users
who are guilty of no other crime to treatment centers rather than to
prison. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The main problem is that the strongest opposition to Prop. 36 came
from the government agencies that are most directly involved in the
drug-abuse issue -- the law enforcement and criminal justice.
Officials of those branches of government see the implementation of
Prop. 36 as a potential threat to their operations, or that it will
tie their hands when dealing with drug-using criminals.

Implementing the provisions of Prop. 36 admittedly will be
complicated, requiring the full cooperation of many of the same
people and agencies that opposed the measure. But the News-Press is
convinced that proper implementation is not only the will of voters,
but will in the end benefit most Californians. A direct and almost
immediate benefit will be putting drug abusers in treatment programs
that generally cost about one-fourth of what incarceration costs.
Taxpayers should appreciate that.

But the real payoff will be in treating people for their sickness
instead of warehousing them in prisons. Prop. 36's true value will be
in giving people back their lives.