Pubdate: Tue, 04 Dec 2001
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
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Copyright: 2001 The Sacramento Bee
Author: Paul Davenport

STUDY FINDS ARIZONA DRUG LAW AVOIDS MILLIONS IN PRISON COSTS

PHOENIX (Associated Press) - Arizona avoided millions of dollars in prison 
costs through a voter-approved 1996 law that requires that some drug 
offenders be placed on probation and provided treatment rather than locked 
up, a new study concludes.

The sponsors of a similar California law that took effect in July applauded 
the results as an example of what can be expected as the treatment 
initiative diverts thousands of drug offenders from the nation's largest 
prison system.

"Arizona has the most experience with a law that grants a right to 
treatment instead of jail, and the state continues to have positive 
results," said Dave Fratello, who managed the campaign for California's 
Proposition 36, approved by voters in November 2000.

Fratello's Campaign for New Drug Policies is encouraging similar 
initiatives in other states if California's effort succeeds.

Arizona spent $1 million in 1999 to treat and supervise 390 inmates kept 
out of prison by the 1996 law, while it would have cost $7.7 million to 
imprison them, the study said.

That called, called Proposition 102 on the November 2002 ballot, focused on 
diverting nonviolent drug offenders from the prison system into community 
treatment programs. The new study by the state Administrative Office of the 
Courts reviewed probation and treatment costs of 5,385 probationers who 
participated in the state-funded substance-use treatment program.

Of them, 1,246, 23 percent, were sentenced to probation under Proposition 102.

Only 390 of the 1,246 would have gone to prison without Proposition 102, 
because many violators already avoided prison sentences, the study showed.

The study said 2,719 probationers had ended treatment as of June 30, 1999, 
82 percent of whom complied with treatment requirements and 38 percent who 
did not.

Passage of Proposition 102 meant the "valuable tool" of offering voluntary 
participation in treatment programs is not available to law enforcement 
officials trying to deal with offenders who refuse treatment, the report said.

Proposition 102 requires treatment rather than time behind bars for those 
convicted for the first or second time of being under the influence of 
drugs or possessing drugs for personal use. The state Supreme Court 
recently ruled that the law also covers possession of drug paraphernalia 
for personal use.

The initiative provides funding for treatment. Money not required for 
treatment of offenders sentenced under Proposition 102 is available for 
treatment of other offenders, and the study said the state spent $3.5 
million for treatment on those offenders in 1999.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens