PUSH FOR TREATMENT VS. JAIL MAKES BALLOT

Some Say The Initiative, Aimed At Nonviolent Drug
Offenders, Takes Rehabilitation Too Far

An initiative that would send nonviolent drug users to treatment
centers -- rather than jail or prison - qualified Wednesday for the
November ballot.

The measure is intended to lower the huge state inmate population and
deal more effectively with drug abusers. The change would save more
than $100 million annually in prison costs and provide a one-time
savings of at least $475 million in prison-construction costs,
according to state analysts.

"Treatment is tougher on crime than prison because it addresses the
underlying problem," said Dave Fratello, spokesman for the initiative.
"The war on drugs has failed to do anything. Drugs are plentiful, the
prisons are full of users and dealers, but nothing's changed. We feel
it's time for a new direction."

The initiative would not apply to sale or production offenses, or to
those convicted at the same time of another crime. It would not apply
to anybody convicted of a felony within the past five years.

For those who did qualify, the courts would be allowed to put them on
probation - incarceration would not be an option - and drug treatment
would be mandatory.

Opponents say the measure inappropriately lets drug offenders off the
hook.

"It is a step toward decriminalizing drugs," said Assemblyman Dick
Ackerman, R-Fullerton. "It would tend to encourage (drug users)
because they aren't going to go to jail."

Ackerman said drug-treatment programs are already available and he
applauded the so-called drug court, which diverts some users from
prison to treatment. But he said the plan called for by the initiative
goes too far.

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona and District Attorney Tony
Rackauckas are both reviewing the initiative and have yet to take a
position.

The measure is backed by the same trio of out-of-state
multimillionaire businessmen who launched the successful and
controversial 1996 initiative legalizing the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes.