MORE AND MORE PRISONS AREN'T THE BEST WAY TO BUILD AN ANTI-DRUG STRATEGY

California often sets trends, and this country would be better off if other
states followed the left coast in trying to get more people off drugs
instead of automatically throwing them all in the clink.

By about a 60-percent margin, Californians last month passed Proposition
36, which amended the state's notorious Three Strikes Law by prohibiting
state courts from sentencing those convicted of simple drug possession to
prison. Instead, first- and second-time drug users will be diverted into
mandatory community treatment programs.

Advocates of the new law say it could keep as many as 37,000 drug users a
year from going to jail and save the state as much as $150 million a year
in incarceration costs.

This is a remarkable turnaround from California's 20-year national
leadership in establishing increasingly punitive sentences for drug users.
California jails more of them than any other state.

The mass incarceration of nonviolent criminals that sparked the U.S. prison
explosion has done little to stanch the flow of drugs. The threat of jail
hasn't deterred abusers, and inmates often emerge as addicted as they go in.

The law was backed by philanthropist George Soros and millionaires Peter
Lewis and John Sperling. These men have been leading the charge for a more
progressive drug policy for years and say they intend to spread their
message to the conservative Midwest -- including Michigan -- in hopes of
persuading voters here to adopt more humane and responsible drug policies.

California, at least, was ready to accept Soros' message and develop a more
sensible strategy in its war on drugs. Even President Bill Clinton, on his
way out the door, told Rolling Stone magazine that the whole system of
mandatory prison sentences for people who possess drugs needs to be examined.

Maybe it's catching on.