On Tuesday, Californians have an unprecedented opportunity to transform lives and create lasting positive economic and social change. How? Vote "yes" on Proposition 5. Proposition 5 or NORA (California's Non-Violent Offender Rehabilitation Act of 2008) takes money earmarked for prisons and instead uses that money to treat and provide recovery support for nonviolent offenders and youth with drug problems.

People in the grip of addiction create havoc -- for themselves, their families, their communities, and for society as a whole. For decades the solution has been to lock up these offenders. America can now boast that we have more people in prison than any country in the world. Once released, with their addictions unchecked, it does not take long for the cycle of drug use and crime to begin again. So, we build another prison -- and we incarcerate and the cycle continues.

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The Arcata City Council will hold public meetings Wednesday to address the Trillium Creek development and the addition of medical marijuana dispensary guidelines to the city's land use code.

The council will hold a public meeting about potential dispensary guidelines, aimed at imposing regulations on how dispensaries operate, in hopes of curbing Proposition 215 abuse.

Last month, the council directed staff to add more specifics to the guidelines before bringing them back to the council for approval Wednesday.

Mayor Mark Wheetley said the council wanted more details on how the city will regulate the number of clinics, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number from four to two. The council also wanted more information on what method will be applied to figure out what is an allowable marijuana growing space in a residential area.

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Old arguments over treatment vs. punishment for drug addicts willing to try tough, rigorous recovery work have been shot down by reason, common sense and demonstrated successes, but in some minds, a judgmental hangover lingers.

Still, a mind-set persists that it's a moral failing and sin - not the sickness of spirit and body the medical profession long ago recognized - - and needs to be punished. This hampers humane approaches to problem-solving.

No recovering addict or alcoholic expects immunity from responsibility for our actions under the influence. We accept that addiction is no excuse for wrongdoing, though it may constitute an explanation.

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Proposition 5, which is on the November ballot, calls itself the "Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act." It seeks to entice your vote by claiming to support drug courts and rehabilitation, and promises to reduce our prison population and thereby lessen California's ongoing budget woes.

As with most initiatives, Prop. 5 was written by an advocacy group. Those who take the time to read it will find it is very long - my copy is 36 pages long and printed in a font size reminiscent of what we see in the "small print" on those late-night TV ads.

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Proposition 5, which is on the November ballot, calls itself the "Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act." It seeks to entice your vote by claiming to support drug courts and rehabilitation, and promises to reduce our prison population and thereby lessen California's ongoing budget woes.

It will do neither. It will simply give those deserving a prison sentence a get-out-of-jail-free card if they claim "drugs made me do it."

As with most initiatives, Proposition 5 was written by a special interest group. The initiative is very long and poorly written. In its 36 pages you will find one thing, a very bad law. It applies to many non-drug-related offenses such as arson, burglary, auto theft, child pornography and DUI. It does not limit itself to simple possession drug crimes. In fact, it will allow a defendant to have up to a kilogram of narcotics to take advantage of its no-jail-time provisions. Those who have a kilogram of any drug are not simple addicts - they are sophisticated dealers.

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I believe the Department of Corrections is at the center of the state budget crisis. Its budget has more than doubled in just the last four years. Prisons built to hold 100,000 are being crammed to hold more than 170,000. The Legislature has approved another $7 billion to build more facilities and the federal courts have taken over the healthcare portion due to CDCR mismanagement and propose to spend another $8 billion on medical facilities (including a prison hospital in Ventura County).

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I want to commend the Ventura County Board of Supervisors for its courageous vote opposing Proposition 5, the so-called Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act. It goes far beyond its stated purpose of providing rehabilitation for drug users. It would reduce parole terms for methamphetamine dealers and other drug felons from three years to just six months, allow paroled felons to keep abusing drugs without being sent back to prison, and award felons more time off their sentences. This ill-conceived initiative would cost the state an automatic $460 million a year and could go up to more than $1 billion a year.

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Regarding "County pursues medicinal marijuana case/Board wants to resolve state-federal conflict" (Our Region, Oct. 27):

I was surprised to read the "logic" offered by the various members of the county Board of Supervisors for proceeding with their lawsuit regarding the issuance of medical marijuana cards. To wit: Bill Horn does not believe there is any medicinal value in marijuana. I am amazed to learn of his medical knowledge. Greg Cox is concerned with the "conflict" between state and federal law. This in spite of the unanimous view of the courts and the recommendation of the county counsel staff. Dianne Jacob is concerned for the allusion of protection that individuals who receive the cards will have. Apparently she is the sole person in California who has this concern.

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Re "Pot harvest time" (SN&R Editorial, October 16):

Your editorial was right on target. Marijuana prohibition has done little other than finance organized crime and violence. Punitive marijuana laws have little, if any, deterrent value. Lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records.

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Re "Too dangerous to ignore," Opinion, Oct. 22

Pamela Starr's warning is compelling. Mexico is very close to becoming a failed state.

Her comments on the bloodshed in Mexico -- enabled by the U.S. -- should not stop at gun-running. It is a very small portion of our population that is spending billions annually to purchase the illicit drugs that keep the cartels in business.

Don't we really need to get a conversation started about that? Wouldn't it be a better world if we just gave our brain-addled addicts the dope they wanted -- along with a little rehab help when they ask for it -- rather than allow them to continue to support the carnage, corruption and massive bureaucracies that accompany "drug enforcement"?

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Five Propositions on the Ballot Are the Work of Billionaires. For Some, It's Business. For Others, It's Personal.

Five measures on the state ballot are the pet projects of the very wealthy, which some see as an abuse of the initiative process.

California's ballot is often crowded with measures known as citizen initiatives. But many of the citizens whose causes will come before voters Tuesday are not everyday Californians.

International financier George Soros wants to change drug laws. Computer technology titan Henry T. Nicholas III -- who has been indicted on federal fraud and drug charges -- is pushing two measures seeking tougher penalties for criminals and expanded rights for victims.

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LOS ANGELES -- On Tuesday, California voters will consider three ballot measures that propose wide-ranging changes to the state's criminal justice system but also pit law enforcement officials against civil rights advocates.

One initiative, Proposition 5, would increase financing for drug rehabilitation programs and reduce penalties for some drug- and addiction-related crimes. Another, Proposition 6, would increase financing for law enforcement and increase penalties for drug- and gang-related offenses. And a third, Proposition 9, would expand victims' roles in criminal and parole proceedings, prioritize restitution payments to victims and reduce the frequency of parole hearings for offenders.

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I strongly encourage you to join with me and vote "no" on Proposition 5. Proposition 5 will be a "get out of jail free" card for those accused of domestic violence, elder or child abuse, identity theft or felony drunken driving. They avoid jail and get drug treatment by claiming "the drugs made me do it." What's worse is that they can attend programs that let them keep using drugs - what a message to send to our youth. And it will cost us more than $1 billion every year.

Proposition 5 shortens parole from three years to just six months for those who sell up to 2.2 pounds of meth, and they will serve less time in prison. I call Proposition 5 the "Drug Dealers Bill of Rights."

- - Jan Scully, Sacramento

district attorney

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Editor - As a physician and an addiction specialist, I take issue with your statement that Proposition 5 "puts far too much faith in treatment." ("A risky drug plan" (Oct. 10). Substance abuse treatment works far better than incarceration at treating addiction and returning people to productive and fulfilling lives.

I have no faith at all in the criminal justice system to help people with addiction (and their families and society as a whole) without the resources Prop. 5 will offer. I know that substance abuse treatment, including outpatient programs, residential programs and methadone or buprenorphine maintenance, help people with addiction. I see it in my patients every day.

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Proposition 5 will make long-awaited changes to a system that's been ineffective for years and getting worse. Let's stop throwing money at a problem and hope it goes away, as in building more prisons. Instead, put the money toward a solution that works.

When we actually do something substantial to help people get clean and sober, as with Proposition 36 and Drug Court, we get results. Two-thirds of people who have successfully completed these programs have not reoffended and are living productive lives. Yet despite saving taxpayers nearly $1.8 billion during the past six years, both Proposition 36 and Drug Court have not been adequately funded.

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We, as district attorney and sheriff for Nevada County and, as taxpayers, are deeply concerned about the pending ballot initiative Proposition 5.

Prop. 5, the Nonviolent Offenders Rehabilitation Act, is seriously flawed and should not become the law. It is offered up to the voters by the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group whose primary goal is to legalize drugs across the country. They were also the proponents of the previously enacted Prop. 36, which requires nonviolent drug offenders to be put on probation and a treatment program.

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In their recent "Speak Your Piece" against Proposition 5, Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito and Sheriff Tom Bosenko suggested that the proposition would allow people who sell drugs to avoid consequences. As a former program director for a chemical dependency treatment facility that provided treatment under PC 1000, Proposition 36 and the Drug Court programs, I have direct experience with these programs. While I honor the work that the writers do in their capacity as law enforcement and district attorney, I must vehemently disagree with them.

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There will be two measures on the Tuesday ballot on Election Day that will absolutely impact the way law enforcement will conduct business in the future.

Proposition 5 is cleverly disguised as drug-offender rehabilitation effort and would absolutely destroy law enforcement's ability to effectively protect the people of California.

Please know that this measure goes far beyond the decriminalizing of illicit drugs; it provides a defense for a wide range of acts of criminality that may be committed by people voluntarily under the influence of drugs. Essentially, under Proposition 5, a drug-impaired assault suspect could assert that his violent conduct was not his fault, but that the drugs made him do it; thus his consequences through the criminal justice system would be nothing more than minimal rehabilitation therapy for his addiction.

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Members of the San Luis Obispo County Criminal Justice Administrators Association urge you to vote "no" on Proposition 5, misleadingly called the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act.

Proposition 5 purports to expand treatment for people convicted of drug possession as an alternative to jail. But the reality of this 60-page proposition is that it would allow dangerous and violent criminals to go free, with no accountability for their crimes or for successfully completing treatment.

We believe defendants who commit, for example, arson of a structure or forest land, commercial burglary, vandalism, sell drugs, steal our cars and our identities, traffic in child pornography, drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sexually exploit teenagers and the mentally disabled deserve incarceration. Under Proposition 5, if these criminals appear to have a problem with substance abuse or addiction, they will get probation and treatment, not jail. Thus, the real beneficiaries of Proposition 5 are those who would escape jail time for their criminal acts by claiming they weren't responsible - the-drugs-made-me-do-it defense.

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On Nov. 4, California voters will decide on a ballot proposition that could dramatically alter the criminal justice system and jeopardize public safety. Proposition 5, the so-called "Non-Violent Offender Rehabilitation Act," poses the greatest threat to public safety in 20 years.

Sponsored and bankrolled by billionaire George Soros, NORA aims to expand Proposition 36 drug treatment programs by earmarking $150 million in initial costs, $460 million by July 1, 2009, and $460 million plus an inflation adjustment every year thereafter. A Little Hoover Commission study showed that Prop. 36 has been an abject failure in treating the addicts it is seeking to cure, achieving only a 19 percent graduation rate. Forty-three percent of these graduates will commit another drug offense within two years.

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