STUDY URGES INTENSIFIED WAR ON DRUGS

State Must Better Coordinate Prevention, Treatment and Law Enforcement
Efforts, Agency Says

A law requiring treatment instead of jail for drug users has been a good
start, but California must do more to reduce addiction's high fiscal and
human costs by expanding the quality and quantity of treatment, a
bipartisan watchdog agency reported Tuesday.

The Little Hoover Commission's 108-page report, "For Our Health & Safety:
Joining Forces To Defeat Addiction," suggests resources could be used far
more efficiently if prevention, treatment and law enforcement efforts were
better coordinated.

"The evidence is clear that treatment can be a cost-effective, socially
responsible and humane solution," said Commissioner Daniel Hancock, who
chaired the subcommittee for this study. "But public agencies have been so
concerned about expanding the supply of treatment, that we haven't paid
enough attention to the quality of treatment." The commission noted that
California still spends most of its resources dealing with drug and alcohol
abuse's consequences, such as health and foster care. Meanwhile, people
often are turned away from publicly funded treatment programs, and very few
treatment programs are available for young people -- even those at high
risk of abusing drugs.

Daniel Abrahamson, Oakland-based legal director of the Drug Policy Alliance
and co-author of the 2000 drug treatment initiative, which replaced jail
with treatment for low-level drug offenders, called Tuesday's report "a
powerful and unequivocal confirmation of how smart the voters were when
they passed Proposition 36."

The commission found Proposition 36 showed signs of success but California
ought to work harder to align all of its drug- and alcohol-related efforts.
For example, a council of community and state leaders should be convened to
develop a strategy and coordinate existing programs. Among the commission's
other recommendations are:

- - Requiring counties to assess treatment needs; reallocate resources to
fill the gaps; and work with local community and civic groups to increase
resources available for treatment.

- - Speeding up state and county efforts to measure treatment programs'
performance; ensuring a well-qualified treatment workforce; and giving
providers technical help in using proven treatment methods.

- - Linking treatment with job placement, housing, mental health, education
and other existing services.

The report's call for an increased statewide role in fighting addiction
comes as Gov. Gray Davis proposes "realigning" funding for Proposition 36
and other health and social services programs, shifting oversight from the
state to counties.

The Little Hoover Commission is a bipartisan, independent state agency
created in 1962 to seek and recommend ways to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of state programs.