U.S. DRUG CZAR SAYS STATE INITIATIVE WOULD WEAKEN DRUG COURTS' POWER

McCaffrey says law would take away ability to punish

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar, is urging
Californians to reject a new ballot measure that he says would strip the
state's drug courts of their power.

Speaking yesterday before the National Association of Drug Court
Professionals, McCaffrey said the initiative would be damaging because it
would eliminate drug testing and take away drug courts' ability to punish
offenders who do not comply with treatment.

"If you think you can treat drug addicts without holding them accountable,
you obviously don't understand the nature of the addiction brain disease,"
McCaffrey said.

The nation's drug policy director said the initiative also would undermine
the drug courts, which he supports. Drug courts allow non-violent offenders
to avoid jail and proceed through rehabilitation with regular drug tests
and check-ins with judges.

Hundreds of drug courts have arisen across the country in the last 10
years, with 101 in California alone.

"We're on the verge of having a poison pill inserted into the revolution,"
McCaffrey said. "I hope California, with its trend-setting ideas, will not
let drug courts be dismantled from within."

Proponents of the initiative, the Drug Treatment Diversion Program Act, say
critics have been grossly misinformed. Dave Fratello, a spokesman for the
measure, said the initiative was meant to enhance, not eliminate, drug courts.

Fratello, who represents the sponsoring organization, the Campaign for New
Drug Policies, said the only changes the measure would prompt would be to
increase drug treatment spending to $120 million per year and to send
non-violent first and second-time drug offenders automatically into treatment.

In current drug courts, prosecutors determine which offenders are eligible
for treatment.

The measure is backed by billionaire George Soros, who also funded
California's controversial Proposition 215, legalizing marijuana for
medical use.

Supporters of the measure also disputed claims that it eliminates drug
testing, and robs judges of their ability to send offenders to jail.

"Judges may set any range of conditions . . . for drug offenders processed
under the initiative. Such conditions may include daily, weekly or monthly
court appearances, in addition to drug testing," said a written statement
issued yesterday by the Campaign for New Drug Policies.

"Upon any violation of any condition . . . the court may drop the offender
out of the initiative's system and incarcerate that person for up to 16
months."

Fratello pointed out the attorney general found the initiative would save
the state between $100 million and $150 million annually because of lowered
prison costs.

Campaigners gathered more than 700,000 signatures to qualify the initiative
for the November ballot, far more than the 419,260 required.