Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 Source: Union, The (Grass Valley, CA) Copyright: 2006 The Union Contact: http://www.theunion.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/957 GROUP SUES TO BLOCK CHANGES TO PROP. 36 A day after changes to the Proposition 36 drug rehabilitation were approved, an Alameda County judge has issued a temporary restraining order stopping them. At issue is a new provision allowing judges to send people to jail if they violate the rehab requirements of the program. The proposition as passed by California voters in 2000 sets up a rehabilitation-instead-of-jail program for nonviolent drug offenders. In Nevada County, judges and lawyers who deal with addicts and members of the drug recovery community have said that, in some cases, a few days of jail time is useful for the addict who does not want to recognize having a problem. A statewide push on the issue resulted in a bill amending the program to pass both houses of the Legislature in late June. On Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill amending Prop. 36. It allows a specified amount of jail time as a tool to encourage compliance with treatment. The same day, the Drug Policy Alliance, formed by the man who first proposed Prop. 36, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court, saying the new bill violates the original intention of the proposition to reject the use of jail as punishment for drug abuse. On Thursday, Judge Winifred Smith issued a temporary restraining order stopping the bill from taking effect. She ruled the lawsuit has a "substantial likelihood of success," according to a press release issued by the Drug Policy Alliance. For more information: About the bill, go to info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1101-1150/sb_1137_bill_20060628_enrolled.html. About the lawsuit, go to the Drug Policy Alliance Web site, www.drugpolicy.org. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath