DRUG TREATMENT

* Re "Critics Fear Reform May Strain Drug Programs," Nov. 9: The revelation
by Los Angeles County judges that the number of offenders diverted into
treatment as a result of Prop. 36 will increase twentyfold shows the fraud
of the current drug court system, which only treats about 5% of offenders.
The drug warriors have been bragging about a diversion system that never
remotely accomplished what they claimed. Prop. 36 will force hypocritical
drug crusaders to live up to the promises they made when the drug courts
were created.

Prop. 36 will save California over a billion dollars in the next five
years, so any strains on the current system can easily be corrected by
diverting prison savings into treatment. Treating drug users instead of
jailing them is cheaper and better for society in every way.

It's time for the hidebound drug crusaders who believe that a prison cell
is the only treatment for drug use to depart from the scene and leave drug
problems to people with answers, not more problems.

Redford Givens, San Francisco