NEXT STEP: MAKE SURE 36 WORKS

CALIFORNIA voters sent a clear message to state leaders when they
overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, mandating drug treatment instead of
jail for minor drug offenders.

But while the message may have been clear, what happens next is not.

Implementing Proposition 36 so that addicts actually get the treatment they
need will not be easy. State officials must move quickly to make sure that
a workable system is in place by the time the measure takes effect next July.

That work is beginning across the state. Judges, prosecutors, public
defenders, probation officers, police and drug treatment professionals are
trying to draft guidelines for addressing the questions posed by
Proposition 36.

How will the supply of drug treatment be increased to handle an estimated
36,000 new clients a year? How will treatment facilities be licensed and
monitored? How will counties pay for drug testing, which isn't covered by
the $120 million in Proposition 36 money? How will probation departments
cope with the added caseloads? How will drug courts, which already do a
good job of getting stubborn addicts into treatment, continue to function?

The lack of answers to these questions -- not an opposition to drug
treatment -- led us to oppose Proposition 36. Now that the measure has
become law, we hope the state will find good answers.

Gov. Gray Davis showed an interest in getting things moving two days after
the Nov. 7 election, when he finally appointed a director for the state
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. The position had been vacant since
Davis took office nearly two years ago.

The governor now needs to release the $60 million called for by Proposition
36 for this year. Counties need the money to begin expanding their
treatment programs and probation departments.

When the Legislature returns, lawmakers need to clear up some of the
vagueness in the measure. They need to appropriate enough additional money
to make sure the drug users who are ordered into treatment programs
actually have programs to attend, testing to keep them on track toward
recovery and probation officers to supervise them. Lawmakers also need to
appropriate money so that drug abusers who have committed other crimes and
are sent to prison have access to treatment there. Proposition 36 money
can't be spent for treatment during incarceration.

California voters had good intentions when they passed Proposition 36. They
wanted to overhaul a cruel and inefficient system that locked too many
people up for addiction and released them without ever treating their
addiction. Let's make sure the system that replaces it is a better one.