Pubdate: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 Source: Bay Area Reporter (CA) Website: http://www.ebar.com/ Contact: 2000 The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Author: Katie Szymanski SF TO SET EXAMPLE FOR STATE'S NEW DRUG REFORM LAW Every state official who stands to benefit from the prison industry through its massive web of campaign contributions has come out against California's new drug reform policy - Proposition 36 - with criticisms ranging from prosecutors' claims that "the threat of jail keeps people in treatment" to California's Democratic senior senator stating that the measure "decriminalizes drugs." When the smoky rhetoric clears, however, there will be little left to do but implement the ballot initiative-turned-law, which voters last week passed overwhelmingly by 61 percent, according to unofficial returns. Proposition 36 means that thousands of people convicted of simple drug possession - often sentenced to life prison terms, thanks to the state's archaic "three strikes" law - will not go to jail but instead enter treatment, where they may actually stand a chance of getting clean and rebuilding their lives. California currently imprisons more drug users than any other state; convicts, of course, are disproportionately poor; the dot-com junkie and other drug users of privilege are rarely targeted for arrest. The statewide law goes into effect July 1, 2001, specifically dictating that the $120 million allocated for treatment should not replace existing rehabilitation programs. The new policy will not have much effect on San Francisco, which already diverts many drug offenders to treatment, and likewise may have trouble in more conservative counties not used to treating offenders like people. Yet San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan hopes that the city will become, as it often is, an example for others to follow. Hallinan's office, in conjunction with San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, is holding a community conference on Wednesday, November 29, to discuss implementation of Proposition 36. "While everybody else is still trying to figure out what it all means, we're already organizing, so that we can take off as the model city," Hallinan told the Bay Area Reporter, noting that San Francisco had the highest approval rating for the measure statewide. Hallinan is the only D.A. in the state who supported the measure, a position that has once again earned him a "soft on crime" reputation from some law enforcement agencies and others, a criticism he dismisses as ignorance. "They get this mindset that prosecuting is all there is to do, whereas I feel our job is to reduce crime and reduce recidivism, which is what this does," said Hallinan, who is proposing that San Francisco add job training and family counseling to the new law's treatment mandate, since detox is often "just the beginning" for people hoping to reshape their lives. "Simple possession is the second leading cause of a three strikes conviction," lamented Hallinan. "Instead of sending people to be disposed of as criminals, this law tries to give them a good second chance." Officials have also worried that there will not be enough room in California's "already overcrowded" treatment programs for newly convicted offenders, but that concern is rarely a factor when the topic is overcrowded prisons, where the solution is always, "create more." Hallinan's November 29 meeting is open to the public and will be held at the West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A host of community leaders will be on hand, including the newly-appointed Kathryn Jett, head of California's Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and judicial representatives from the state of Arizona, where a similar diversion law was passed four years ago, and has reportedly been successful. "It will be a working session, to figure out what the definition of treatment will be under Prop. 36," said Hallinan, "and to determine where we will go from here." - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk