FEINSTEIN DENOUNCES PROP. 36

FRESNO -- U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein campaigned Friday with opponents of
Proposition 36, a drug-treatment initiative on Tuesday's ballot backed by
her Republican challenger, Tom Campbell.

The Democratic incumbent, surrounded by law enforcement officials on the
Fresno County courthouse steps, said the measure would in effect legalize
drug possession and curb the authority of California's drug court judges.

Prop. 36 would require treatment rather than imprisonment for first- and
second-time nonviolent drug offenders convicted of using or possessing drugs
for their personal use.

"It takes the discretion away from judges, and eliminates the 'stick' in the
carrot-and-stick approach," Feinstein said. "I'm worried that this is going
to pass."

The drug courts combine treatment with the threat of incarceration,
subjecting offenders to regular drug testing and imposing brief jail
sentences for those who fail.

Prop. 36 would divert as many as 24,000 offenders a year who currently go to
prison or are returned to custody for violating their parole, the
Legislature's nonpartisan fiscal adviser estimates.

"It would essentially decriminalize, or legalize, drug use in California,"
Feinstein said.

Dave Fratello, campaign manager for the California Campaign for New Drug
Policies, the initiative's lead proponent, said drug courts only deal with a
small part of the problem, reaching only about 5 percent of drug offenders.

"Prop. 36 would reach all of the offenders," Fratello said.

Campbell, who favors drug treatment over incarceration as one of the
cornerstones of his campaign, supports Prop. 36, saying the initiative would
help limit drug abuse, ease prison overcrowding and curtail the influence of
street dealers.

Campbell has proposed allowing drugs to be made available to addicts in
controlled settings in local clinics, pending the approval of law
enforcement officials. He said his plan would serve as adjunct to existing
laws, and would not replace them, and noted that Feinstein did not weigh in
on the issue until late in campaign.

The "federal war on drugs has been a failure," said Campbell, who opposes
the Clinton administration's plan to provide $1.3 billion in drug war funds
to Colombia.