Marin Independent Journal
October 23, 2008

Timmen Cermak

TREATMENT, not incarceration” for nonviolent offenders with addiction problems was the mantra of Proposition 36, passed in 2000. Despite its flaws, this proposition saved California almost $2 billion, including two prisons that did not need to be built, according to an independent study by UCLA, while graduating 84,000 people.

Despite its success, Proposition 36 has been under attack by those who still have more faith in prisons than in treatment. Its funding is shrinking. Its flaws do need repair. Proposition 5 - The Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, or NORA - is the answer.

Following are the key reasons why I support passage of Proposition 5:

- NORA creates a more rational, unified system of treatment for nonviolent offenders with addiction problems. Based on their criminal history and drug problem severity, each nonviolent drug offender would be placed in one of three appropriate levels of care and supervision. Participants who fail at the lower levels could be moved up to more intensive levels of treatment, or could be jailed for noncompliance.

Additional improvements on Proposition 36 strengthen treatment. Funding is finally made available for drug testing. Longer treatment periods are possible. Graduated sanctions, including brief incarceration, are permitted. And drug courts, which have always been endowed with the most intensive resources, are reserved for the most difficult cases.

- NORA requires real prison system and parole reforms for the first time. Unlike Proposition 36, which did nothing to reform corrections, this measure adds a second secretary to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to be known as the Secretary of Rehabilitation and Parole. Prisons will be required to provide rehabilitation programs to exiting inmates not less than 90 days before release. CDRC will be required to pay for rehabilitation for parolees.

- NORA invests $65 million per year into developing the first system of drug treatment programs for at-risk California youth under 18. No such system exists now, leaving all but the richest families to muddle through the chaos of adolescent drug abuse on their own. Too often today, young people with drug problems grow up to be nonviolent drug offenders. Proposition 5 begins to build a system of treatment for all California youth.

How would we pay for Proposition 5?

By not having to pay for continuing to overburden our prisons. One-time savings for prisons we do not have to build is estimated to be $2.5 billion. Annual savings to prison and parole operating costs is estimated to be $1 billion - the estimated annual cost of Proposition 5. We are going to spend the money one way or the other. Let’s spend it more wisely.

I hear people say that Proposition 5 puts too much faith in treatment. How long is California going to put too much faith in imprisonment? Where is the data that shows that squeezing 175,000 inmates into facilities designed for 100,000 has “worked.” Are we any safer? Does the current system stop recidivism?

Treatment is far from perfect, but it does work for more people than prison. I strongly urge adoption of a public health approach to policy. All aspects of NORA’s programs will be studied closely by independent researchers with funds provided by the measure to identify and encourage adoption of best practices. Adjustments required to improve outcomes will be made as needed.

To date, the only strategy used to respond to the Department of Corrections’ poor results has been to build more prisons.

It is time to force our prison system to truly commit to rehabilitation. Proposition 5 pays for itself by keeping nonviolent offenders from being sent to prison unnecessarily. With treatment, recovery from addiction is a reasonable outcome to expect, especially if treatment is persistent. Proposition 5 is your chance to save both lives and money.

Please give rehabilitation a real chance in California.

Dr. Timmen Cermak of Mill Valley is a psychiatrist specializing in addiction psychology. He is president-elect of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.