Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 2000
Source: Record, The (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Record
Contact:  P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95201
Fax: (209) 547-8186
Website: http://www.recordnet.com/
Author: Jim Nickles, Record Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prop36.htm

OFFICIALS GATHER TO CHANGE DRUG POLICIES

SACRAMENTO -- When California voters cast their ballots in November, they 
overwhelmingly endorsed the idea of treating nonviolent drug users instead 
of locking them up.

But they also left state and county officials with the monumental task of 
revamping California's criminal-justice system and changing drug policies 
that have been in place for decades.

And they have to accomplish all that by July.

Facing a common challenge, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and 
drug-treatment experts from around California came together Monday to try 
to craft some answers -- or at least agree on the questions.

Many of the 700 or so participants had opposed Proposition 36, which 
requires that many "nonviolent" drug offenders be sentenced to probation 
and drug treatment rather than jail or prison.

But now it's their job to carry out the will of the voters.

Initiative proponents urged judges, district attorneys and probation 
officers to embrace change, saying the measure will only succeed if every 
element of the justice system works together.

The measure will put roughly another 36,000 people a year into probation 
and drug-treatment programs, on top of the 100,000 a year in those 
programs. But the state's drug-treatment agencies already are overburdened, 
as are county probation offices.

"Be creative," said U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles. "Turn this 
system upside down and re-create it in a way that's going to get the job done."

The state's new drug czar, Kathryn Jett, said she is determined to make 
Proposition 36 work.

"I am someone who is committed to see Prop. 36 implemented and be 
successful," said Jett, the new director of the state Department of Alcohol 
and Drug Programs.

Others said state and county officials will have to address numerous issues 
over the next few months, including:

* How to divide up the $120 million a year the initiative allocates to 
counties to beef up drug-treatment programs. The money could be split up 
proportionally, based on each county's population, or by need, according to 
the number of people convicted of drug violations, officials said. The 
state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, which is distributing the 
money, has not yet devised a formula.

* Who gets the money? Should the state hand the money out to counties, 
which would oversee drug-treatment providers in each community, or to 
drug-treatment programs directly? And should counties themselves have to 
put up some matching funds?

Counties don't have any money to spend without taking it away from other 
programs, Solano County Supervisor Barbara Kondylis said.

"Counties need to remain whole," she said.

* And to test or not to test. The initiative prohibits using any of the 
$120 million a year to conduct random urine tests of those going through 
drug-treatment programs to make sure they stay drug-free. Despite that, 
some conference speakers said drug testing should remain an integral part 
of any treatment program, while others said it's a waste of time and money.

In many cases, testing is unnecessary, because those failing drug-treatment 
programs "are going to be obvious," said Superior Court Judge Jerome Nadler 
of Santa Clara County. "They're not going to go to meetings. They're not 
going to go to court."

But Ralph Miller, a Los Angeles County probation officer, said testing is 
critical.

"People who are addicted are very good at disguising things. They could 
fool the devil," Miller said.

The conference was organized by the Campaign for New Drug Policies, which 
pushed for the initiative on behalf of its big-money sponsors, who included 
New York financier George Soros and University of Phoenix founder John 
Sperling.

The idea was to air all the issues and help state and local officials 
brainstorm ideas on how to implement Proposition 36, campaign coordinator 
Dave Fratello said.

"Everybody's betting against us," he said. "The post-election story has 
been, 'This is impossible.' "

San Joaquin County officials attended the conference and are just beginning 
to devise their own Proposition 36 strategy, County Administrator David 
Baker said.

"We're taking a studied approach to it," he said. "I don't think we're 
prepared to come to any imminent conclusions."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D