CAMPBELL BACKS MEASURE FOR TREATMENT IN DRUG CASES

Republican Joins Demos On Initiative To Avert Jail In Non-violent Crimes

Proponents of a measure that would send non-violent drug offenders to
treatment programs instead of jail listed 14 Democratic lawmakers among
their ``official endorsers'' when the initiative qualified this week for
the November ballot.

Now they can count on a prominent California Republican for support:
Silicon Valley Congressman Tom Campbell, the Republican nominee for U.S.
Senate.

``I think treatment for a first offender is far more likely to be helpful
than incarceration,'' Campbell said. ``It's less costly, and far more
beneficial.''

Campbell's backing may once again put him to the left of his Democratic
opponent on a crime issue that could generate considerable heat before the
election.

Campbell already has received notoriety for his provocative proposal to
allow state and local government clinics to provide addicts with drugs in
an attempt to reduce the number of crimes associated with black market
demand for illegal narcotics.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whom Campbell is trying to unseat, has
criticized that idea. Her staff said Friday that Feinstein has not yet
taken a position on the initiative, which is being backed by billionaire
financier George Soros.

But Feinstein opposed another Soros-backed measure, Proposition 215, the
medicinal marijuana initiative, which California voters approved in 1996.

The senator has taken a tough stance on drug offenses for years.

On Friday, the nation's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, said in San Francisco
that the initiative would undermine the state's drug courts by eliminating
their power to jail offenders who skip out on treatment programs.

Drug courts allow non-violent offenders to avoid jail and proceed through
rehabilitation programs with regular drug tests and check-ins with judges.
They have become increasingly popular, and California now has 101.

``We're on the verge of having a poison pill inserted into the
revolution,'' McCaffrey told a conference of drug court officials. ``I hope
California, with its trendsetting ideas, will not let drug courts be
dismantled from withi~.''

The November measure, which is being called the ``Substance Abuse and Crime
Prevention Act,'' would require drug treatment and probation for people
convicted of non-violent drug possession offenses and allows individuals to
clear their records if they successfully complete treatment programs.

While no opposition campaign has formed yet, representatives of the
California District Attorneys Association and the California Correctional
Peace Ofvicers Association have spoken against it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Barry Witt at bwitt@sjmercury.com or (408) 286-0264.