PROP. 36 OFFERS EXPANDED DRUG TREATMENT WHILE RETAINING PENALTIES

What is undermining the current drug court system is that it is too
restrictive, and that prosecutors have virtual veto power over who
gets into the program, denying participation to users generally on
grounds that they are charged with "transportation" along with simple
possession.

Although the "transportation" charge originally was crafted to provide
harsher punishment to traffickers who were moving bulk amounts of
drugs, prosecutors now routinely use it against small-time users who
buy drugs for personal use and then move away from the place of purchase.

Though Milliken says the current drug court system of "carrot and
stick" works well, the reality is that it is too much stick and too
little carrot. His opposition to 36 is symptomatic of a judiciary that
has slowly abandoned its independent role to the executive.

Our present system has not worked. Proposition 36 is an initiative of
the people to try something else. It should be given the opportunity
to help drug addicts and save citizens of this state hundreds of
millions of dollars.

Sal Tarantino,
San Diego