Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jun 2000
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register
Contact:  P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711
Fax: (714) 565-3657
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Author: Martin Wisckol - The Orange County Register

PUSH FOR TREATMENT VS. JAIL MAKES BALLOT

LEGISLATION: Some say the initiative aimed at nonviolent drug offenders,
takes rehabilitation too far.

An initiative that would send nonviolent drug users to treatment centers -
rather than jail or prison - qualified Wednesday for the November ballot.

The measure is intended to lower the huge state inmate population and deal
more effectively with drug abusers. The change would save more than $100
million annually in prison costs and provide a one-time savings of at least
$475 million in prison-construction costs, according to state analysts.

"Treatment is tougher on crime than prison because it addresses the
underlying problem," said Dave Fratello, spokesman for the initiative. "The
war on drugs has failed to do anything. Drugs are plentiful, the prisons are
full of users and dealers, but nothing's changed. We feel it's time for a
new direction.'

The initiative would not apply to sale or production offenses, or to those
convicted at the same time of another crime. It would not apply to anybody
convicted of a felony within the past five years.

For those who did qualify, the courts would be allowed to put them on
probation - incarceration would not be an option - and drug treatment would
be mandatory.

Opponents say the measure inappropriately lets drug offenders off the hook.

"It is a step toward decriminalizing drugs," said Assemblyman Dick Ackerman,
R-Fullerton. "It would tend to encourage (drug users) because they aren't
going to go to jail."

Ackerman said drug-treatment programs are already available and he applauded
the so-called drug court, which diverts some users from prison to treatment.
But he said the plan called for by the initiative goes too far.

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas are
both reviewing the initiative and have yet to take a position.

The measure is backed by the same trio of out-of-state multimillionaire
businessmen who launched the successful and controversial 1996 initiative
legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
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