Friday, November 26, 2004

Study: Diverted Drug offenders Likely To Relapse
KCRA story - "Drug offenders sent to treatment instead of jail in the early days of California's Proposition 36 were far more likely to be re-arrested than were criminals sent to rehabilitation through other diversion programs, says a UCLA study released Friday. The findings by University of California, Los Angeles, researchers echo opponents of the initiative approved by 61 percent of voters in November 2000. Judges and prosecutors favored drug court programs that include stronger penalties for offenders who skip or fail treatment programs, while Proposition 36 requires that first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders be sent to treatment programs instead of prison. But the UCLA study, published in the American Society of Criminology journal Criminology & Public Policy, suggests a big problem is that Proposition 36 offenders aren't getting enough treatment to make a difference."