Pubdate: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Bill Ainsworth, Staff Writer MOVE SEEKS TO KEEP ADDICTS OUT OF JAIL Initiative Would Send Nonviolent To Centers SACRAMENTO -- With financial help from billionaire George Soros, opponents of locking up drug users are planning a state initiative for the November 2000 ballot that would divert nonviolent drug offenders from prison to treatment centers. The measure, by promising to keep addicts out of jails and prisons, is a departure from California criminal justice initiatives of the past two decades that have focused on locking up more criminals longer, spurring a massive expansion of state prisons. And the measure is likely to provoke a national debate on drug policy. "It's an attempt to say drug addiction isn't a criminal justice problem, it's a medical problem. Let's treat it that way," said Cliff Gardner, a San Francisco criminal defense attorney who helped draft the measure. Some law enforcement representatives are skeptical. Hal Barker, sheriff of El Dorado County outside of Sacramento and president of the statewide Peace Officers Research Association, said he believes it's important to punish people who use dangerous drugs. "People who use cocaine and methamphetamines are pretty dangerous people," said Barker, who still plans to take a closer look before making a final decision. Supporters submitted four separate versions of their initiative to the Secretary of State this week. Once the state has analyzed the measures, the backers plan to go forward with just one initiative for the signature-gathering phase, which typically costs about $700,000. The campaign leaders in California, who formed a group called Campaign for New Drug Policies, worked on the 1996 ballot measure to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state. They are virtually certain to receive money from the same trio of wealthy people who funded the California marijuana ballot measure as well as others around the nation, said Dave Fratello, campaign representative. Those are Soros, the New York investor; Peter Lewis, a Cleveland insurance titan; and John Sperling, the founder of the University of Phoenix business college. Soros actively promotes institutions that study alternatives to the current war on drugs, while Sperling helped fund a successful 1996 Arizona ballot initiative that serves as a model for the California plan. Under the proposed measure, those convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses as well as parolees yanked back to prison for using drugs would be sent to drug treatment centers in the community rather than county jail or state prison. If a drug user successfully completes treatment, the offender could have his conviction erased. Otherwise, he faces jail time. Anyone convicted of selling, producing or manufacturing illegal drugs would not be eligible for the diversion program. The initiative would set aside $60 million in the first year to pay for new drug treatment programs and add an additional $120 million to the total budget each year for the next five years. After that, it would keep the total budget for rehabilitation at $660 million a year. "Our theory is that this would eventually save a lot of money," said Fratello. Proponents estimate that the measure would keep 30,000 people out of jails and prisons each year, including 10,000 state prison parolees whose violations consist of possessing drugs. Currently, California has 160,000 inmates in 33 mostly overcrowded state prisons and has plans to build a new prison. A 1997 report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office provides some evidence to support the proponents cost-saving projections. The office, which scrutinizes the state budget, estimated that the state would save $200 million a year by moving 9,000 drug offenders in state prisons into local programs. The move would save an additional $400 million from the cost of building new prisons. The office's analysis of the 1998-99 parole violator problem estimated that drug offenses comprised half the violations of the 65,396 parolees who returned to custody in 1996. The analysis concluded that drug rehabilitation programs are significantly underfunded and there is "strong evidence that expansion of substance abuse and other services for parolees" could reduce the rate at which parolees are sent back to prison for violations. The measure drew opposition from a conservative criminal justice policy foundation. "There's no need for this measure. We already have diversion programs," said Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a Sacramento law and order advocacy group. More opposition might come from backers of the state's "three strikes" law, which imposes tough penalties on repeat serious and violent offenders. This initiative would exempt some drug users from the harsh sentences imposed under three strikes. But only those offenders who have been out of prison for at least five years before their drug possession conviction could escape prison under the proposal. Supporters say the measure will actually make California safer by reserving precious prison space for violent criminals. "Most people are very aware that non-violent drugs users are taking up jail spaces. They don't like that and want it changed," said Fratello. Fratello said this new drug policy needs to be enacted by initiative because most politicians are afraid to do anything about drug use except pass more punitive penalties. "This is one where the people are ahead of the politicians. We've escalated the drug war for 20 years without taking a good look at whether it works," he said. "This does that." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake