Drug Treatment
* Re “Critics Fear Reform May Strain Drug Programs,” Nov. 9: The revelation by Los Angeles County judges that the number of offenders diverted into treatment as a result of Prop. 36 will increase twentyfold shows the fraud of the current drug court system, which only treats about 5% of offenders. The drug warriors have been bragging about a diversion system that never remotely accomplished what they claimed. Prop. 36 will force hypocritical drug crusaders to live up to the promises they made when the drug courts were created.
Prop. 36 will save California over a billion dollars in the next five years, so any strains on the current system can easily be corrected by diverting prison savings into treatment. Treating drug users instead of jailing them is cheaper and better for society in every way.
It’s time for the hidebound drug crusaders who believe that a prison cell is the only treatment for drug use to depart from the scene and leave drug problems to people with answers, not more problems.
REDFORD GIVENS
San Francisco
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