California Proposition 36 (2000)
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California Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, was an
initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...
statute that permanently changed state law to allow qualifying defendants convicted of non-violent drug possession offenses to receive a probationary sentence in lieu of incarceration. As a condition of
probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
defendants are required to participate in and complete a licensed and/or certified community drug treatment program. If the defendant fails to complete this program or violates any other term or condition of their probation, then probation can be revoked and the defendant may be required to serve an additional sentence which may include incarceration. The proposition was passed with 6,233,422 (60.86%) votes in favor and 4,009,508 (39.14%) against on November 7, 2000 and went into effect on July 1, 2001 with $120 million for treatment services allocated annually for five years. The act is codified in sections 1210 and 3063.1 of the California Penal Code and Division 10.8 of the California Health and Safety Code.


Results


Qualified Defendants

Not all defendants convicted of a non-violent drug possession offense are eligible for probation and treatment under Prop 36. Subdivision (b) of section 1210.1 of the California Penal Code deems the following defendants ineligible for the program: # Any defendant who has been incarcerated within the last five years for a serious or violent felony offense. # Any defendant convicted in the same proceeding of a non-drug related misdemeanor or any felony. # Any defendant who, during the commission of the offense, was in possession of a firearm. # Any defendant who refuses treatment. # Any defendant who has two separate drug related convictions, has participated in Prop 36 twice before, and who is found by the court by clear and convincing evidence to be unamenable to any and all forms of available drug treatment. In such cases the defendant shall be sentenced to 30 days in jail.


Reform

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was critical of Proposition 36 because many in the program fail to complete treatment. About 34 percent of drug offenders complete treatment. Schwarzenegger attempted to modify the proposition by enacting Senate Bill 1137. The bill would have given judges the power to sentence jail time for a brief period to drug offenders who relapsed. Proposition 36 supporters objected to the changes and an
Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...
court ordered an injunction on the reforms. Senate Bill 1137 did not go into effect..


Criticism

Prop 36 is not retroactive, meaning that defendants who had to attend unlicensed drug rehabs prior to Prop 36 and the Drug Courts are not afforded the opportunity to have their cases reheard in
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
. Prop 36 and the Drug Courts have discontinued the use of unlicensed rehabs as sentencing tools, due to concerns that unlicensed treatment could be unethical. Many drug offenders who had used use unlicensed rehabs had been abused and are unable to appeal past convictions due to the formation of the Drug Courts. Unlicensed rehabs are no longer used, but people who relied on them are not afforded any of Prop 36's protection. If Prop 36's benefits had been extended retroactively, these people would have received them; at present, they do not.


Evaluation

The
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
, which was chosen to run the required evaluation of Proposition 36, has issued three annual reports on the implementation and impact of the program since 2003. These reports provide data and analysis that help state legislators determine the future of the program each year. A UCLA study released in April 2006 showed Proposition 36 is saving taxpayers $2.50 for every $1 invested. According to the
Drug Policy Alliance The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization that seeks to advance policies that “reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and b ...
, total savings for taxpayers over the past five years total $1.4 billion. Another UCLA study found that convicted drug users had become more likely to be arrested on new drug charges since the proposition took effect .


See also

*
Cannabis in California Cannabis in California has been legal for medical use since 1996, and for recreational use since late 2016. The state of California has been at the forefront of efforts to liberalize cannabis laws in the United States, beginning in 1972 with t ...
*
Drug policy of California Drug policy of California refers to the policy on various classes and kinds of drugs in the U.S. state of California. Cannabis possession has been legalized with the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, passed in November 2016, with recreational sales ...
* California Proposition 66 (2004), a failed amendment to the
three-strikes law In the United States, habitual offender laws (commonly referred to as three-strikes laws) have been implemented since at least 1952, and are part of the United States Justice Department's Anti-Violence Strategy. These laws require a person who ...


References


External links


Prop36.orgUCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program
- courtesy
Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

ADP Prop 36 website
{{California Marijuana 36 Drug control law in the United States Initiatives in the United States Proposition 36