Pubdate: Fri, 22 Dec 2000
Source: Santa Barbara News-Press (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Santa Barbara News-Press
Contact:  P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Website: http://www.newspress.com/

MAKING IT WORK

California voters made a clear statement in November when they 
approved Proposition 36, the purpose of which is to divert drug users 
who are guilty of no other crime to treatment centers rather than to 
prison. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The main problem is that the strongest opposition to Prop. 36 came 
from the government agencies that are most directly involved in the 
drug-abuse issue -- the law enforcement and criminal justice. 
Officials of those branches of government see the implementation of 
Prop. 36 as a potential threat to their operations, or that it will 
tie their hands when dealing with drug-using criminals.

Implementing the provisions of Prop. 36 admittedly will be 
complicated, requiring the full cooperation of many of the same 
people and agencies that opposed the measure. But the News-Press is 
convinced that proper implementation is not only the will of voters, 
but will in the end benefit most Californians. A direct and almost 
immediate benefit will be putting drug abusers in treatment programs 
that generally cost about one-fourth of what incarceration costs. 
Taxpayers should appreciate that.

But the real payoff will be in treating people for their sickness 
instead of warehousing them in prisons. Prop. 36's true value will be 
in giving people back their lives.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer