MEASURE TREATS DRUG USE AS ILLNESS

Diversion Campaign To Turn In Signatures

SACRAMENTO -- Proponents of a ballot measure to take drug addicts headed
for the state's overcrowded prisons and divert them to treatment programs
plan to turn in signatures for their initiative this week.

And, they said yesterday, they expect to put their proposal before
California voters in November.

The initiative, funded by a trio of wealthy opponents of the drug war,
including billionaire financier George Soros, could spark a national debate
on drug policy.

Under the plan, those convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses, as
well as parolees who use drugs, would be sent to treatment centers rather
than county jail or state prison.

Currently, 19,743 of the state prison system's 160,000 inmates are there
for possession of illegal drugs.

Addicts who complete treatment would have their convictions erased from the
public record. Otherwise, they'd face jail time.

The measure, based on an initiative approved by Arizona voters in 1996,
also would increase funding for rehabilitation programs.

Those convicted of selling or making drugs wouldn't be eligible for diversion.

Backers of the plan say it would save money and prevent crime.

"This is intended to divert nonviolent drug abusers into treatment," said
Dave Fratello, spokesman for the initiative campaign. "We want to start
treating drug addiction as a medical problem rather than a criminal justice
problem."

A preliminary analysis done by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office
estimates the measure would save the state between $100 million and $150
million a year by diverting about 25,000 people a year from state prisons.

The analyst also estimates the new law would save the state about $500
million in one-time prison construction costs and save counties an
additional $50 million per year by diverting convicts from county jails.

The proposal is likely to face strong opposition from the state's powerful
prison guards union, which spends freely in support of tough-on-crime laws
and the politicians who support them.

"If substance abuse is like having a house on fire, this measure is like
cutting off one of the fireman's arms," said Jeff Thompson, lobbyist for
the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. "All we're left
with is treatment."

Thompson said the prison guards union hasn't taken a formal position on the
ballot measure, but he sees the treatment proposal as fatally flawed.

He argues that erasing the record of drug convictions will prevent
employers from determining whether prospective workers are addicts, a
special problem for those hiring bus drivers, school employees and air
traffic controllers.

Parole agents, he said, need to be able to yank parolees who use drugs back
to prison because drug use frequently is a sign that a convict is going to
start committing other crimes.

Backers of the measure try to get around that problem by denying diversion
to parolees who had a prior conviction for a serious or violent crime,
ranging from residential burglary to murder.

The leaders of the initiative campaign come from a group called Campaign
for New Drug Policies, which helped pass the 1996 California ballot measure
that legalized marijuana for medical use in this state and similar measures
in several other states.

The donors also are veterans of the medical marijuana campaigns, including
Soros, a New York investor; Peter Lewis, a Cleveland insurance titan; and
John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix business college.

Soros funds institutions that promote alternatives to the current war on
drugs. Sperling helped fund the 1996 Arizona proposition campaign.

Fratello said backers of the ballot measure, called the Substance Abuse and
Crime Prevention Act, have collected 710,000 signatures. They need about
419,000 to qualify for the ballot.

The measure allocates $60 million from the state general fund for treatment
for the 2000-01 fiscal year and $120 million each year after that until
fiscal year 2005-06.

Fratello said the ballot measure would allow California to reduce spending
on "failed policies and conserve jail and prison space for truly dangerous
offenders."