DRUG USERS MAY FALL THROUGH CRACKS IN BUDGET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Thousands of California drug offenders could end
up without treatment or jail time because of a clash between the
state's new budget and an initiative approved by voters nine years
ago.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators slashed funding for drug
programs to help close a $26.3 billion deficit this week.

Money for treatment programs has gone from $145 million three years
ago to just $18 million for the current year.

Proposition 36, approved by 61 percent of voters in 2000, has diverted
36,000 nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders a year from
prisons and jails into treatment programs.

Officials say many addicts will now face long waits and inadequate
treatment.

Such offenders cannot be sent to jail, even if diversion programs
collapse for lack of money, said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state
director for the advocacy group Drug Policy Alliance. With certain
individual exceptions, the law mandates that "any person convicted of
a nonviolent drug possession offense shall receive probation."

"The courts cannot incarcerate them because there is no treatment
available to them," said Dooley-Sammuli, whose organization promoted
the initiative. "The law is clear."

The group has successfully sued in the past to prevent offenders from
being sent to jail, arguing incarceration would violate voters' intent.

"That is a significant issue," said Scott Thorpe, chief executive
officer of the California District Attorneys Association. "Is it going
to result in more people on the street without treatment?"

State officials want to use a federal grant, coupled with the $18
million in state money, to spend $63 million on diversion programs
this year.

That is little more than half the $108 million the state spent last
year, and little more than one-quarter of the $228 million that
researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles recommended
the state spend on treatment alternatives in 2007.

Counties already are so hard hit by the poor economy that officials
are laying off sheriff's deputies and cutting vital services. Now they
must also try to find money for drug programs previously funded by the
state.

"We do have to offer drug treatment in lieu of incarceration. It will
mean longer waiting lists and they may not receive appropriate
treatment," said Kelly Brooks, a legislative representative with the
California State Association of Counties. "You're certainly going to
shoot yourself in the foot on any success that we've had in getting
people into drug-free lives and being productive citizens again."

Susan Blacksher, executive director of the California Association of
Addiction Recovery Resources, expects counties may wind up "just
warehousing people" in outpatient programs without providing them
enough services to make a difference.

"Without treatment, they're certainly predicted to re-offend and
eventually end up back in the criminal justice system," said
Blacksher, who represents addiction counselors and residential
treatment facilities.

Along with the governor, 13 Republican legislators supported the
omnibus budget bill containing the funding cut. They included several
lawmakers who have earned a reputation for being tough on crime.

Republican leaders did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
But Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Yuba City, who previously headed the
state parole board, said he hopes to see more money restored for treatment.

"These are very severe times and you have to do things you don't
necessarily like to do," Nielsen said of the budget cuts.

Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, who has authored several anti-crime
ballot measures, wants to see another initiative overturning
Proposition 36.

"Quite frankly, I'm glad to dismantle that program at any point,"
Runner said.

Runner said the lack of treatment and jail time creates a dilemma, but
he added that so few addicts complete programs that it won't much matter.

UCLA researchers found a 32 percent completion rate for offenders
sentenced to treatment instead of jail. But the researchers projected
in their 2007 report that the state saves $4 for every $1 it spends on
offenders who stay off drugs, get jobs and stop committing crimes.

Dooley-Sammuli fears prosecutors and judges will now look for ways to
send offenders to jail if they know they won't get treatment.

"Which makes no sense, particularly now when prisons and jails are
full. It's just sickening," she said.