Calif. Lawmakers Offer Competing Prop 36 Bills April 19, 2005
News Summary
Two measures have been introduced to overhaul California's Proposition 36, each drawing a sharply different reaction from supporters of the initiative that places low-level offenders in treatment rather than prison.The Oakland Tribune reported April 19 that SB-830, introduced by Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego), would allow some first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders to be jailed by rewriting the law to include treatment programs offered inside jails and instructing judges to assign defendants to such programs. The measure also calls for spending $150 million for drug testing of offenders.
"California voters made it clear that they want addiction to be treated as a health issue instead of a criminal-justice one, and Sen. Ducheny is trying to overrule the public will," said Glenn Backes, health-policy director of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a key Prop 36 backer.
A broad range of law-enforcement groups support Ducheny's bill, including the California Peace Officers Association, California Police Chiefs Association, and the California District Attorneys Association. Ducheny said the bill would "add the sanctions and structure to Prop. 36 required to make it work and give drug users the necessary support to avoid re-offending and become productive citizens."
A competing measure, SB-556, introduced by Sen. Carole Migden (D-S.F.), would instead expand treatment duration from one year to two and require counties to spend all but 12 percent of Prop 36 funds on treatment, training, counseling, and housing for defendants. Migden's bill also would remove a requirement that Prop 36 participants offer no reasonable cause to believe that they will use drugs again in order to complete their sentences.
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