WINDFALL PROPOSED FOR DRUG PROGRAM DAVIS TO GIVE MILLIONS TO SPECIAL COURT

Gov. Gray Davis has proposed more than doubling the money in next year's
budget for California's drug court programs, and Bay Area drug court
officials say that money could help free a lot of people from addiction.

Drug courts unite courts, probation offices, alcohol and drug treatment
programs and other social services to provide treatment and rehabilitation
- -- rather than just imprisonment -- to nonviolent drug offenders. The
program provides needs assessments, counseling, case management, random
drug tests and other recovery services in order to halt the "revolving
door" in which so many drug offenders find themselves.

There are 65 drug courts in 38 counties including Alameda, Contra Costa and
San Mateo. Another 15 new courts are being planned.

Davis announced earlier this week he wants to add $10 million to the
2000-2001 budgets of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and the
Judicial Council; $8 million already was earmarked for drug courts, and the
state expects to receive another $3 million from the federal government. "I
definitely think it's an appropriate expenditure of money," Alameda County
Superior Court Judge Richard Iglehart, who presides over one of the
county's four drug courts.

"I think it's very cost effective. The evidence seems to be pretty clear
that as you get a growing number of people who have drug cases and are drug
dependent, we really need to have a full-court press, we need to quadruple
our efforts regarding them."

Alameda County's drug courts carry a heavy workload, he said -- he sees 100
to 150 people each day in his courtroom. It's always a struggle to find
enough money to provide the services all these people need.

"Frankly, with more money we'd be able to reserve more bed spaces and get
more people into programs," he said. "The closer we can come to
treatment-on-demand, the better."

Iglehart said running a drug court "clearly takes a whole lot more effort
than what we're used to in other areas of the criminal justice system.

"It is very time-intensive for all the court personnel -- the probation
officers, the district attorneys, the public defenders -- but it's worth it
because in the end, when you move people toward less and less drug use and
then to abstention, those are success stories."

The success stories happen regularly and are inspiring, Iglehart said:
"They get out of the hole that they're in with drugs, and you can see the
difference physically in them. You can see the difference in terms of
attitude, and you can see the difference in terms of spirit."

Debbie Keller, manager of the San Mateo County Drug Court Program, couldn't
be reached for comment.

Davis also proposed adding another $5 million to the state Justice
Department's budget for the Statewide Integrated Narcotics System (SINS), a
computer system designed to help police throughout the state share
information to coordinate and concentrate their anti-drug efforts.