Prisons are big business in California--the state leads the nation in construction and expansion of correctional facilities. The new prisons were filled with an increasing number of people behind bars for crimes directly or indirectly related to drugs. Those inmates did their time, got back out on the street and, for the most part, fell back into the same cycle.

In 1997, a report by the state Legislative Analyst's Office noted the obvious: 10,000 beds worth of state-contracted drug treatment programs could equate to a savings of $80 million a year and--voila!--decreased recidivism rates.

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