|
Newsbrief:
California's
Proposition
36
Generating
Big
Increases
in
Drug
Treatment
10/17/03
A five-year tracking study
funded by the National Institutes of Drug Abuse and implemented by the
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute's Integrated Substance Abuse Program has
found a big jump in admissions to treatment programs in five major California
counties since California voters approved the "treatment not jail" Proposition
36 in November 2000.
The study of the first year
of Prop. 36, from July 2001 to July 2002, saw admissions to drug treatment
programs jump by 27% in Kern County, 21% in Riverside County, 17% in Sacramento
County, and 16% in San Diego County. Only San Francisco County failed
to show an increase, but it already had an extensive diversion and treatment
program before Prop. 36 was adopted.
The study does not draw conclusions
about the success of drug treatment programs in preventing crime or drug
abuse, but it did find that drug programs have problems dealing with people
with severe drug habits or multiple problems, such as a dual diagnosis
of mental illness and drug abuse. Other complications included homelessness
or disability. Most people in treatment were in outpatient programs,
the researchers found. Most people diverted into treatment were male
first-offenders with full-time jobs. Methamphetamine and marijuana
users were more likely to participate, while heroin users and injection
drug users were less likely, the study found. [Ed: The apparently
significant number of marijuana offenders sentenced to treatment is an
indication that many people who are not addicted are being sent to treatment
by the criminal justice system.]
The goal of the NIDA-funded
study is to identify the best ways of treating drug users who would have
been sent to prison had Prop. 36 not been enacted.
-- END --
|
Issue #307, 10/17/03
Supreme Court Upholds Doctors' Right to Recommend Medical Marijuana |
Outgoing California Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Guidelines Bill, But Movement Grumbles Over Plant Limits, Caregiver Provisions, More |
Bolivia on the Brink: Strikes, Blockades, Mass Marches, Dozens Killed as US-Backed Administration Teeters |
DRCNet Interview: Retired New York Supreme Court Justice Jerome Marks |
Newsbrief: California's Proposition 36 Generating Big Increases in Drug Treatment |
Newsbrief: Cops Laud "Big Bust" at University of Virginia |
Newsbrief: Venezuela Vice-Pres Lashes Out at US Drug Czar, CIA |
Newsbrief: Bill to Legalize Coca Prepared in Colombia |
Newsbrief: Prosecution of Southwest Virginia Pain Doc Stumbles |
Newsbrief: Lame Duck Governor Vetoes Needle Exchange Bill |
Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief: Damages Sought in Mississippi Raid that Destroyed Innocent Plants |
Media Scan: Zurita on Bolivia/Coca, Barthwell & Kampia, Boston Phoenix on ONDCP Summit, Clarence Page, Prevention Postcards |
Perry Fund Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
SSDP ED Search Accepting Applications |
The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
