GROUP SUES TO BLOCK CHANGES TO PROP. 36

A day after changes to the Proposition 36 drug rehabilitation were
approved, an Alameda County judge has issued a temporary restraining
order stopping them.

At issue is a new provision allowing judges to send people to jail if
they violate the rehab requirements of the program.

The proposition as passed by California voters in 2000 sets up a
rehabilitation-instead-of-jail program for nonviolent drug offenders.

In Nevada County, judges and lawyers who deal with addicts and members
of the drug recovery community have said that, in some cases, a few
days of jail time is useful for the addict who does not want to
recognize having a problem.

A statewide push on the issue resulted in a bill amending the program
to pass both houses of the Legislature in late June.

On Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill amending
Prop. 36. It allows a specified amount of jail time as a tool to
encourage compliance with treatment.

The same day, the Drug Policy Alliance, formed by the man who first
proposed Prop. 36, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court,
saying the new bill violates the original intention of the proposition
to reject the use of jail as punishment for drug abuse.

On Thursday, Judge Winifred Smith issued a temporary restraining order
stopping the bill from taking effect. She ruled the lawsuit has a
"substantial likelihood of success," according to a press release
issued by the Drug Policy Alliance.

For more information:

About the bill, go to
info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1101-1150/sb_1137_bill_20060628_enrolled.html.

About the lawsuit, go to the Drug Policy Alliance Web site,
www.drugpolicy.org.