PROP 5 COULD ADD TO COUNTY'S REHAB CASELOAD

Initiative to Require More Treatment

Ventura County is laying plans to deal with hundreds if not thousands
more offenders bound for drug treatment if a little-noticed measure
known as Proposition 5 passes on Election Day.

A special panel of county and court officials met Monday, as it's been
doing monthly since July, to discuss the possible repercussions of the
initiative dubbed the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, or NORA.

The initiative has drawn comparatively few television commercials or
polling. But with less than a year to prepare for implementation of
the sweeping measure, drug treatment agencies in the state's large
counties are laying groundwork.

"I don't think there is any county at this point that has the existing
capacity to take that influx," Patrick Zarate, chief of the office
overseeing Ventura County's drug and alcohol programs, said Monday.
"These cases will be coming over the course of a year, so there is
some time but not a lot to gear up."

The measure would take effect in July, with state funding for planning
due to start coming to counties in January.

Zarate said the county budget for drug and alcohol programs would
double to $20 million, treatment would have to be expanded and
counselor training would need to be upgraded.

The measure has drawn much less attention than initiatives banning
same-sex marriage and creating better conditions for egg-laying chickens.

But people on both sides of the debate say it would lead to major
change, with close to $500 million annually going into treatment
programs statewide. The money would come from the state's general fund
but would be offset by reduced costs for incarceration, backers say.

NORA would establish a new diversion system, starting with minor
offenders and ending with a track for those with five or more
convictions within 30 months. It would also provide for case dismissal
and sealing of records after probation, make possession of less than
an ounce of marijuana an infraction and shorten parole for most drug
offenses.

District Attorney Greg Totten, Sheriff Bob Brooks and Probation Chief
Karen Staples are predicting soaring recidivism and exploding costs.
And tonight, Simi Valley Supervisor Peter Foy is asking the Board of
Supervisors to take a position against it.

But others say no crime wave is likely and that no one really knows
how many people arrested for drugs will pick treatment instead of jail.

"Proposition 5 is very complicated and it's got a lot of nuances,"
said Steve Lipson, assistant public defender in Ventura County. "The
bottom line is no one knows how many people will be eligible for
Proposition 5, nor how many people will want to participate."

The Ventura County panel has been trying to figure out how many people
might materialize, whether courts would get bogged down in a process
demanding multiple hearings, and how to gear up to provide additional
treatment.

There are no hard numbers, but officials say the demand could be
substantial.

Ventura County's largest drug diversion program is Proposition 36, a
measure state voters passed in 2000 to send nonviolent offenders into
treatment instead of jail and prison.

Zarate said that enrollment could grow from about 1,500 to 3,000 if
the initiative passes.

Unknown hundreds of others would be added through the initiative's
provisions calling for drug-using youths and parolees to get treatment.

The panel is laying groundwork without knowing whether its work will
end up on the shelf.

If the measure passes, the panel meets again Nov. 10.

If not, Zarate said, "it will be much ado about nothing."