PROP. 36 WILL RUIN DRUG TREATMENT

The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (Proposition 36),
which Record columnist Michael Fitzgerald supports, will neither stop
substance abuse nor prevent crime.

It will, however, strip judges of power to impose any term of incarceration
for noncompliance with drug-treatment conditions. It will cost taxpayers
hundreds of millions of dollars, end the most successful drug-treatment
program in California (drug courts) and quite possibly increase crime.

This proposition will require California to spend more than $120 million a
year on drug treatment for so-called nonviolent drug offenders. None of the
money is earmarked for drug testing. This will essentially end testing for
all drug-treatment programs. How can a drug-treatment program be successful
without accountability and consequences for noncompliance with treatment
rules? The people of California deserve to have their money spent in a more
cost-effective manner, and the addicts deserve to be placed in treatment
programs that work. Give them a fair chance of beating their hideous addiction.

This proposition will also stop law enforcement from charging someone with
violating probation or parole for possession of any controlled substance,
even if that person is on parole for murder, child molestation or some
violent crime involving drugs. It will unleash thousands of drug addicts on
California communities. That is why law enforcement agencies and community
leaders such as Stockton's Alex Spanos are fighting to stop it from
passing. I hope Record readers will join them and stop the clock from
turning back on justice reform in California.

Eric Dutemple Jr., Riverbank