Judges Say New Drug Law Is Working

About 30% of Los Angeles County defendants sentenced to drug rehabilitation rather than prison or county jail under Proposition 36 either failed to show up or dropped out of treatment programs in the first six months the new law was in effect, officials said.

However, judges and county officials say they are pleased with the early results, considering drug users are the ones being served by California’s novel sentencing program.

“The preliminary indication is that this is working,” said Carol Morris Lowe, director of planning for the county Alcohol and Drug Program. “We’re going to have to refine it and tweak it, but I think it’s a good start.”

Proposition 36, approved in 2000 by 61% of the voters, requires that nonviolent drug offenders convicted of possession, use or transportation of drugs for personal use be offered treatment and probation rather than being locked up.

The effectiveness of the law is being closely watched in other states, including Michigan, Ohio and Florida, where the proposition’s authors are planning similar ballot measures.

Of the 4,329 defendants sentenced to drug-treatment programs in Los Angeles County from July 1 to year’s end, 69%, or 3,008, were still receiving treatment at the end of the year, according to numbers recently made available by the Alcohol and Drug Program. A few participants had already finished their treatment by Dec. 31. Bench warrants were issued for several hundred defendants who failed to return to court.

No statewide statistics are yet available, but counties are collecting data individually. In Orange County, 67% of the 1,978 defendants referred for drug treatment were still in programs at the end of December. San Diego County reported about 54% of its 1,578 defendants still in treatment. The numbers in Ventura County were higher--81% of the 992 people referred were in programs at year’s end.

Officials across the state pointed out that the statistics were preliminary.

“We’ll have a much better picture of how this is all going to shake out when we have a full year of data,” said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ana Maria Luna, who is heading a countywide task force on the law.

The task force made several findings based on statistics from the first six months:

* Although the initiative was touted as a way to get first- and second-time offenders into treatment, the average participant has been arrested 14 times previously and has two felony and five misdemeanor convictions.

* Four of five participants are men. More than half are 36 years old and older. The racial breakdown is 36% Latino, 30% African American, 30% white, 2% Asian and 2% other.

* Fifteen percent of participants were deemed severely addicted to drugs and required residential treatment. Forty-one percent were referred to the lowest level of treatment, outpatient meetings several times a week. The bulk--44%--were assigned to day programs lasting several hours per session.

* Drug Court participation is down about 23% since Proposition 36 took effect. Drug Court participants complete a yearlong treatment program that involves frequent counseling, testing and court appearances.

Necessary Tools Lacking, Judge Says

Superior Court Judge Ellen DeShazer, who handles both Drug Court and Proposition 36 cases, said that she believes in treatment but that the ballot measure was poorly written and inadequately funded. She also said the law lacks serious sanctions and that defendants have too many chances to fail.

The proposition “doesn’t give the court all the tools it needs to make it work,” she said. “It’s like a bark and no bite. It doesn’t give you the same leverage.”

In Drug Court, judges can throw noncompliant participants in jail immediately.

Elsewhere in the state, participants are more severely addicted than expected, said Del Sayles-Owen, deputy director of the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. That has created a shortage of residential beds in some counties, she said.

Despite worries in Los Angeles County that there would not be enough courtrooms or treatment centers to handle the influx of drug defendants, officials said last week that the law has put stress on county resources but not overwhelmed them.

County Probation Department Bureau Chief Dave Davies said there have been about 40% fewer defendants than anticipated participating in drug treatment.

That’s partly because nearly 300 eligible defendants refused treatment, officials said. Many of them chose a short stay in county jail over drug treatment, which can last up to a year.

“It would have really strained the system had the numbers come through that we were expecting,” Davies said.

But probation officers, judges and treatment providers said the county still needs more than its state-allotted $30 million to make Proposition 36 work. Additional funds could pay for more lawyers and court staff to handle cases, as well as more drug counselors and probation officers to supervise defendants, they say.

The head of a Gardena-based center, Larry Gentile, said that the influx of clients from Proposition 36 has not been as heavy as he anticipated, but that the number is rising. As of December, 42% of his outpatient clients were Proposition 36 enrollees. Some staff members at his Behavioral Health Services work six days a week and into the night, Gentile said.

Sponsors of the ballot measure said its goals were to save the state money, reduce the prison population, lower addiction rates and increase public safety.

The California prison population dropped by about 4,355 inmates from last July 1 to Dec. 31, according to the state Department of Corrections. However, that decrease is only partly because of Proposition 36, said department spokesman Russ Heimerich.

Treatment is far cheaper than incarceration. A year in prison costs the state an average of $25,600, while treatment ranges from $840 to $7,400, according to the Northern California-based Drug Policy Alliance, which championed the initiative.

“It has had an immediate impact in that we are starting to see some people diverted who might normally have had felony convictions,” Heimerich said. “But it’s not going to have a huge impact on the [prison] population until further down the road.”

When it comes to reducing addiction, Luna, the superior court judge, said that she would like to see even more defendants follow through on their drug treatment, but that she recognizes the challenges. Some of the defendants, she said, are homeless, have been battling drug addiction their entire lives or suffer from mental illness. Many also lack motivation, she added.

“They don’t have the resources to provide for their basic needs--shelter, food, medication,” Luna said. “This is not just a matter of going to meetings. They have issues that go far beyond that.”

Participants are required to visit an assessment center for evaluation and then to enroll in a treatment center, often without money or transportation to do so.

The county needs to make it possible for defendants to go directly from court to treatment centers, said Bob Mimura, director of the county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee.

“There are a lot of little hurdles,” he said, each one making it more difficult to remain off drugs.

Then there is the problem of drug testing during treatment, which is not funded under the law. Thus defendants or treatment centers have had to pick up the costs. A new law set aside $8.4 million statewide for testing, but Los Angeles County has yet to receive its $2-million share.

Personal Stories Are Heartening

The Drug Policy Alliance expects 60% to 70% of defendants to complete treatment. Dan Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the group, said there are many personal stories from people who are already benefiting from Proposition 36.

“For us, that’s what it was about,” he said.

Superior Court Judge Rita Miller said defendants in her courtroom have similarly inspiring stories. One recovering addict had his first sober Thanksgiving with family members in 20 years.

William Anderson, 52, hopes he will be a Proposition 36 success story.

A heroin user for 25 years, he said he has been locked up several times for drug violations. On Halloween night, he was picked up again.

“I got tired of going to jail,” Anderson said. “I got tired of waking up in the morning sick.”

He appeared before Miller last week for a progress report. Anderson said he had not used drugs since he was sentenced Jan. 14. Miller congratulated Anderson for enrolling in a program.