Our opponents know they can’t win on merit - so they have turned to Hollywood!

As you probably know by now, Martin Sheen is lending his Hollywood stardom to our opposition. By generalizing his own experiences, Mr. Sheen thinks he knows what’s best for the hundreds of thousands of Californians and their loved ones affected by addiction. He thinks Prop. 5 won’t work, but he’s been wrong before and he’s wrong now. We need to set the record straight with millions of voters ahead of the election on November 4th.

We can counter the Martin Sheen buzz by putting commercials on television. Can you help? (Donate) We still need $1 million to buy air time for commercials in the final weeks of the campaign. Every $1 you donate gets us closer to our goal of broadcasting the truth!

Mr. Sheen has personally struggled with addiction and supported his son through his own drug problems. Like many parents, he would do anything to spare his children from dependence on drugs or alcohol. That makes it even more saddening that he opposes Prop. 5 — a measure that would create treatment and other support services for young people with drug problems. California currently has virtually no support for young people outside of the juvenile justice system, forcing parents to call the police to get their children the help they need. Prop. 5 would change that so that parents, doctors or teachers could refer young people directly to the support services they need to get better.

Martin Sheen is wrong about Prop. 5 — just like he was wrong back in 2000. In 2000, Mr. Sheen opposed Proposition 36, the state’s ground-breaking treatment-not-incarceration law, claiming that it wouldn’t help people struggling with addiction. Voters disagreed. Since then, Prop. 36 has already graduated 84,000 people and saved taxpayers almost $2 billion. Prop. 5 would build on the success of Prop. 36 and extend treatment to young people — for whom there is currently no support — outside of the criminal justice system, too.

I have the privilege of working with many Prop. 36 graduates and other people in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug problems. I partner with people in recovery and their family members to fight for an end to addiction and, in the meantime, better access to treatment. That is why so many people in recovery support Prop. 5. By increasing funding and access to successful treatment programs, Prop. 5 will help more people — young and old — and save more taxpayer dollars.

Martin Sheen is entitled to his own perspective. But he’s only one voter in California! Help us (Donate) put commercials on TV to set the record straight for the tens of millions of other voters in the final days of the campaign!