PROPOSITION 5 WILL PUT ABUSERS ON RIGHT PATH

As an advocate for people seeking recovery from alcohol and drug
abuse, I feel compelled to lend my support to Proposition 5, the
Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act of 2008, also known as NORA.

The focus of this proposition is "treatment vs. incarceration" for
nonviolent offenders, and if passed by the voters of California would
make substantial changes in how we deal with nonviolent offenders and
would provide much needed funds to carry out those changes --
resulting in reduced prison populations and increased treatment opportunities.

A recent Zogby Poll of almost 5,000 likely voters indicates that
three of four voters believe that the "War on Drugs" is a failure.

The U.S. prison population rose 2.8 percent during the 2006 fiscal
year, ensuring that we, as a nation continue to have more people
incarcerated than any other nation on Earth. The U.S. Department of
Justice reports that prisons added more than 62,000 new inmates
bringing the total to more than 2.245 million people behind bars. The
department reports that state prison populations rose by 3 percent,
county jail populations by 2.5 percent and federal prisons by 3.6 percent.

While the United States makes up only 3 percent of the world's
population, at any one time we hold in custody 25 percent of all
prisoners worldwide.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation estimates
that 20 percent of the 171,000 inmates incarcerated during 2007 were
in custody for drug-related offenses. During the same year, 125,000
individuals were paroled into the community and 51 percent of those
individuals were returned to prison for committing a violation of
their parole, 30.1 percent of which were for violations related to drug use.

Estimates from a study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
indicate that less than 10 percent of inmates who need addiction
treatment actually receive services. The study concludes that "since
offenders are four times more likely as the general population to
have a substance abuse disorder, treating the offender population
could measurably lower the demand for drugs in our society, and
reduce the crime rate."

Studies conducted by the Justice Policy Institute indicate that
increases in admissions to substance abuse treatment are associated
with reductions in crime rates, thus leading to reductions in
incarceration rates. The institute also concluded that treatment
helps individuals transition successfully from the criminal justice
system to the community and that substance abuse treatment is more
cost-effective than prison or other punitive measures.

From these facts, a reasonable person could conclude that
criminalizing drug and alcohol addiction, especially for nonviolent
offenders, is not working to make our streets or prisons safe.

In addition to the social damage inflicted on families whose loved
ones are incarcerated and the stigma associated with being an
"ex-con," the cost in dollars is creating enormous burdens for taxpayers.

States throughout America are re-examining policies related to
cost-effective ways of impacting the problems that lead to incarceration.

The prison system has an annual budget of $10 billion. The California
Legislative Analyst Office has estimated that enacting the provisions
of NORA could cost $385 million per year for adult treatment services
and $65 million for juvenile treatment services, but could save up to
$1 billion by reducing the incarceration rate for nonviolent offenders.

Additional savings, estimated at $2.6 billion, could be realized by
reduced capital outlay for building new prisons.

To this point policymakers have lacked the political will to take on
the criminal justice system, NORA gives the voters of California an
opportunity change a system that is on the verge of collapse and
provide treatment services to both nonviolent adults and juveniles.

I encourage voters to look at the facts and vote yes on Proposition 5.