In a few hours, Davis would be free from county jail. Whether she would be freed from the drugs that have brought havoc to her life is unknown. But instead of serving months or years behind bars, the 29-year-old crack cocaine user would be ordered to attend five to 10 hours a week of group therapy, individual counseling and 12-step study classes.

California, known for its strict three-strikes penalties and its prison construction spree, has made a U-turn in the war on drugs. The felons are now patients.

Despite widespread opposition by the state's political leadership, voters last year passed Proposition 36, and starting July 1, all people convicted of simple drug use or drug possession -- even for the hardest substances, such as heroin and cocaine -- were no longer sent to jail, but instead had to be released and offered drug treatment.

It is estimated that 36,000 drug users a year -- and perhaps many, many more -- will be diverted from jail to treatment, enough to delay the construction of at least two new state prisons.

The money saved on incarceration will be spent on rehabilitation, making dollars available for the first time for treatment on demand -- about $120 million a year.

Although drugs have certainly not been legalized in California, drug users have essentially been decriminalized.

With the exception of Arizona, which passed a similar measure requiring treatment instead of jail in 1998, no state has more lenient drug use and drug possession laws than California. While other states and cities have adopted "drug courts," where some drug offenders are diverted from jail to treatment, the California experiment is being played out on a grand scale.

"It's a complete revolution," said Dave Fratello, one of the authors of Proposition 36. "We've changed the way drug abusers are seen by the system. Before, some people got some treatment. Now, everybody gets treatment, even the most hopeless cases."

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan agrees: The system has been profoundly altered. "People who went to jail or prison last month are now going back into the community and hopefully into drug treatment," he said in an interview in July. "The people have spoken. They wanted us to try something else."

Outside a courtroom recently, a drug defendant who had just begun treatment under Proposition 36 and who asked that his name not be used, was enthusiastic about the new law, but also realistic.

"For me? I've used on and off for 10 years," said the cocaine abuser in his thirties, who said he worked as a mechanic. "I've been sober and then I used again. I can stay clean. But some of these other people? They're junkies, man, and crack heads, they live on the streets, and nobody is going to take their drugs away."

Then he hesitated. "But you know? Maybe they might clean up their act. They deserve a chance, and it's not any worse than sending them to prison."

No one knows how successful Crystal Davis or any of the other tens of thousands of convicted drug users will be. Critics of Proposition 36 worry that the already overtaxed criminal justice system and community treatment centers will be overwhelmed, that committed addicts will resist help and abuse their freedom, and that not nearly enough money has been appropriated for such things as drug testing or residential treatment, which some hard-core users might need.

The experiment will be closely watched, as the backers of Proposition 36 are currently polling and working to put similar proposals before the voters in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. Support for the drug reform measures has come from three wealthy men: financier George Soros, University of Phoenix founder John Sperling and insurer Peter Lewis.

An early examination of the implementation of Proposition 36 in Los Angeles, which has the largest addicted population in the state, is revealing.

Crystal Davis was arrested for possessing cocaine while she was on probation for an earlier drug conviction, the possession of a crack pipe. A presentence report written by the probation office before Proposition 36 took effect recommended that Davis, who has a long criminal record of drug charges, be sent to state prison.

Her attorney, public defender John Alan, assumed that before Proposition 36, his client would have been sentenced to a minimum of six months in county jail. "She probably would not have gotten the maximum, but you never know," Alan said.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Ronald Rose, who presided over her case, said later that a defendant such as Davis, with a long history of drug convictions and a demonstrated unwillingness to pursue treatment, would have definitely gotten county jail time, perhaps even a year or two in prison.

"I believe you can stop using drugs," Rose told her at her hearing. "It's going to be a very, very difficult thing. But you can do it, and we are here to help you."

Rose ordered Davis and two other drug defendants, who were all shackled together, to appear at the Homeless Health Care center near downtown Los Angeles within 24 hours to meet with their probation officer and undergo evaluation to decide the appropriate level of treatment. Davis will be on probation for three years and will likely be ordered, after evaluations, to undergo outpatient drug treatment for nine months.

"All three of you are going to be released," Rose said. "The odds are that one of you isn't going to make it, and then you'll be going to state prison." And then they were led away by the bailiff, due back in court in three weeks to have their progress evaluated.

A report done for the California legislature last year estimated that a total of 36,000 people would be diverted from jails to treatment each year under Proposition 36. But that number might prove to be conservative.

In Los Angeles, a task force assembled to implement Proposition 36 estimated that 14,000 to 20,000 offenders in Los Angeles County alone would be eligible for treatment.

To handle this volume, the county arranged for 18 judges to hear nothing but Proposition 36 cases. Defendants who are deemed eligible -- meaning they have not committed any violent crimes in the last five years -- and who plead guilty or are convicted of drug use or possession, are released and placed on probation, usually for three years.

Their first step is to attend a Community Assessment Service Center, like Homeless Health Care or Tarzana Treatment Center.

"I sit down with them, explain how it works and then off they go," said probation officer Ray Causly, who works at Tarzana. "After that, my contact with them is minimal." From there, they move down the hall into a treatment program.

Before Proposition 36, Causly would meet with drug offenders on probation three or four times a month. "Now, that's all handled by counselors," he said. Asked whether he thought the new approach, described by a probation official as "kinder and gentler," would work, Causly said, "I give it a 50-50 chance. What we've done is decriminalize the individual, offer them help, and then step back and let treatment do its thing, and see if it works."

In the past, some offenders were sent to drug courts, which offered treatment instead of jail time. The success rate was high in Los Angeles, with as many as seven of 10 abusers completing their programs and staying clean. But the number of people who went through drug court was small -- only about 5 percent of the eligible drug defendants in Los Angeles -- and preselected for potential success by judges and prosecutors.

Now, everybody is offered treatment -- even users with dozens of drug arrests. Some judges and prosecutors worry that the toughest addicts will simply refuse treatment.

At the Tarzana center, counselor Monica Weil is the first person the Proposition 36 clients see after the probation officer. She administers a standard test, the Addiction Severity Index, which measures how much treatment a client should have. An occasional cocaine user, who has a job and a supportive environment, would be classified as a Level One. Weil estimates that about 80 percent of the Proposition 36 clients would be Level Ones.

A crack addict living on the streets, with multiple arrests and perhaps a psychiatric disorder as well, would be considered a Level Three.

Treatment for a Level One would entail four or five one-hour meetings a week for three months, while treatment for Level Three addicts might include several days of detoxification, followed by a month of residential treatment and then 10 hours of meetings a week for nine months.

There was widespread concern before Proposition 36 became law that the existing treatment centers would be overwhelmed, but that has not been the case in Los Angeles. The centers are busier, and they are scrambling to hire more counselors, but they are managing their growing caseload.

If the convicted users fail to stay sober, and stumble in their recovery, the court gives them another chance. If they fail again? They are given yet another chance. On their third strike, they can be sent to jail or prison.

"There is still a carrot and a stick," probation officer Causly said. "It just takes a lot longer before we pull out the stick."

Crucial to the treatment, say the judges, probation officers and many counselors, is money for repeated, random drug testing -- funds that have not yet been appropriated.

"Trust only takes you so far. Then you want to test them. A lot," said Ken Bachrach, clinical director at the Tarzana Treatment Center. "That is what this program is. Treatment. Treatment takes time. People screw up. They fail. They try again. The public should understand. They need to be patient. Because this is addiction we're talking about."

Source: Washington Post (DC)
Author: William Booth, Washington Post Staff Writer
Published: Monday, August 13, 2001; Page A01
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

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Prop. 36 Eligibility Debated in Courts
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10397.shtml

Drug Treatment Takes Time To Succeed
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10141.shtml

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