REPORT ANALYZES DROP IN NARCOTICS ARRESTS

San Mateo County narcotics arrests have plummeted by 44 percent over the
past five years. The drop is largely due to dwindling law enforcement
attention to drug crimes and a state mandate that shifted the focus from
arrests to treatment, according to a report released Wednesday.

In its 11-page report reviewing data from seven local police departments,
San Mateo County's civil grand jury found that felony arrests for narcotics
other than marijuana dropped nearly 10 percent from 1999 to 2002. Seizures
of assets related to drug crimes also sank 61 percent during that period.
For the cities of San Mateo and East Palo Alto, steep drops in narcotics
arrest rates -- 69 percent and 73 percent, respectively -- coincided with
budget-spurred cuts in their narcotics units.

The report also said that the drop in arrests may have decreased since 2000,
when Proposition 36 passed and allowed those facing drug charges to enter
treatment and prevention programs instead of going to jail.