DRUG WAR'S FAILURE OPENS DOOR TO NEW TACTIC

California has the highest rate of drug use of any state and the highest
rate of incarceration for drug offenses, with a 25-fold increase since
1980, according to a new report by the nonprofit Justice Policy Institute.

These facts, an overwhelming indictment of the failed war on drugs, help
explain why that state has become the latest battleground in efforts to
treat nonviolent people convicted of possessing or using drugs instead of
jailing them.

There are now twice as many people in California prisons for drug offenses
as the entire state prison population 20 years ago. California has built 21
prisons during that time, and the political action committee of the prison
guards' union has become the biggest contributor to California political
campaigns--giving a cool $2 million to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis's
campaign alone.

Not surprisingly, the union has come out in opposition to the measure,
which will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot as Proposition 36. This would
provide $120 million a year, for the next 5 1/2 years, for community-based
substance abuse treatment programs. According to the state's Legislative
Analyst's Office, this initiative will divert 37,000 state and county
prisoners into treatment programs instead of jails, resulting in a net
saving of about $1.5 billion in that period.

Persons convicted of drug possession will receive probation and the judge
will assign them to a treatment program. Parolees who violate a condition
of parole can also be diverted into a treatment program. Offenders will be
supervised by probation officers. "Treatment goes beyond addiction
therapy," says William Zimmerman, who is heading the California Campaign
for New Drug Policies. "It will include job training, literacy training and
family counseling. The idea is we don't want to just send these people into
a 12-step program and urine samples. We want to get to the underlying
causes of addiction and see if they can be returned to society as
law-abiding citizens."

Arizona passed similar legislation in 1996, and it required the state's
Supreme Court to do an analysis of how the reform was working every two
years. The first report, which came out in 1999, found a 71 percent success
rate for people going through treatment and remaining off drugs and a 98.2
percent matching rate between recommended treatment and what the person
actually got. The court also concluded that Arizona was safer because there
were fewer addicts committing crimes to feed their addictions, Zimmerman says.

He says a poll taken in June and focus group results are showing extreme
voter dissatisfaction with current nail 'em and jail 'em drug policies. "We
begin with a large lead. About 80 percent of people polled believe it has
failed, and about 70 percent of voters feel it can't work. People also feel
that law enforcement should not be playing a role in making policy. There
is too much of a conflict of interest. Voters are also concerned with
overcrowded jails and the potential it creates for the early release of
violent criminals."

"Given that voters are more or less on the side of the initiative, the
opposition has to distort what it is," he says. Among the more unbelievable
distortions is that it would divert people caught with a date-rape drug
into treatment programs instead of throwing the book at them. The
initiative applies only to people caught with drugs for personal use and to
people who are not committing concomitant crimes, in this case, assault.
The opposition is also claiming offenders will be given fly-by-night
treatment, he says, although the treatment programs would have to be
certified by the state or county.

A further criticism is that it will do away with drug courts, in which
judges have great latitude in sending drug offenders into treatment.
"Unlike the drug courts, this is confined to offenders convicted of
possession," Zimmerman says. "The drug courts take concomitant crimes. As a
result, the drug courts can continue to function." But, he says, drug
courts are only serving between 2 percent and 5 percent of the people who
need treatment. The drug court judges are opposing the initiative.

Zimmerman has headed successful campaigns in seven states to legalize the
medical use of marijuana. "In all of this, the opposition has come from law
enforcement officers," he says. A Field poll done in June found that 64
percent of Californians were in favor of the initiative, 20 percent opposed
and the remainder undecided. "This is another issue where the public is far
ahead of the politicians," Zimmerman says.

Vincent Schiraldi, director of the Justice Policy Institute, says it has
studied 26 states and found a consistent pattern of states having the
highest rates of incarceration also having the highest rates of drug use.
"In California, it's a watershed for the prison and drug reform issue if
voters say yes. It will really say something to legislators in the whole
country."

Schiraldi makes the point that millions of Americans have smoked dope.
"It's an experience a lot of people can relate to." But politicians are
terrified of being labeled soft on crime if they back drug policy reform.
The upshot is that Americans are being deprived of the ability to debate
how we deal with one of our largest public health problems. "People chafe
at not being allowed to have a discussion," he says. "It's un-American."

It's clear from the polls that people are deeply dissatisfied with the $40
billion a year being spent on the drug war and the results that they are
getting. Past California initiatives have had impact far beyond the state.
Proposition 36 could lead the way across the country for drug policies that
emphasize treatment, rather than jail, for offenders who are harming only
themselves.