Re to the op-ed piece written by my colleague, Judge Ronald P. Kreber
("Prop. 36 Would Be Death Knell for Drug Courts," Oct. 15): In the
past 10 years, we have seen a positive revolution in the way the
criminal justice system treats offenders who take mind-altering drugs.

We have instituted drug courts, where drug users are treated with
caring and compassion as human beings with a problem.

However, they are also held strictly accountable to satisfy the
demands of the court's drug treatment program. The results in many
ways have been gratifying.

Recently numbers of people, including some of my fellow judges, have
voiced concerns that the passage of Proposition 36 would undercut our
drug courts. However, based upon my experience as the one who in
effect began the first "drug court" in the country back in 1984, this
simply is not the case.

Proposition 36 is not perfect.

For example, it should not leave the funding of drug testing to
chance.

But it should be supported because it would provide an option to
remove from the criminal justice system those people who are not
problem users, leaving their use habits to be addressed by health-care
professionals. This would leave drug courts, with their scarce
resources, available to confront the problem drug users--and there
certainly are enough of those to go around.

We did this in 1984 with problem alcohol users, and our program was
also gratifyingly successful. Even though it is not illegal for adults
to buy, possess or use alcohol, we were able to use the sanctions of
the criminal justice system to hold problem users accountable for the
crimes they committed, such as driving under the influence, assaults,
spousal abuse, failure to make child-support payments, etc., and at
the same time get them off alcohol.

Thus, for example, we replaced a drinking driver with a sober one.
Under Proposition 36, the same would be true for problem users who
commit crimes under the influence of these other mind-altering substances.

However, if we do not support Proposition 36, we will allow the drug
courts to perpetuate the failed "war on drugs," with all of its
needless and expensive prosecution and incarceration of non-problem
drug users--at $21,243 per year. But voting for Proposition 36 gives
us all a chance to move the policy of our country into a much more
positive direction, while at the same time using the sanctions of the
courts to address the criminal actions of people who use drugs.

Judge James P. Gray,
Orange County Superior Court