NCJ Number
195266
Journal
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: October-December 2001 Pages: 343-352
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The Prevention Panel of the Therapeutic Jurisprudence Conference presented several examples of community services and prevention policies that should be brought into the mix of services and supports for California's Proposition 36 and for other court diversion programs; this paper summarizes these presentations and suggests how they might be put to work as effective alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders.
Abstract
In November 2000, the people of California approved a voter-initiated proposition that offers treatment in lieu of jail to convicted nonviolent first-time and second-time drug offenders. Following successful participation in an alcohol and other drug treatment program and remaining free of additional offenses for a specified time, the offender would have the conviction set aside, the charges dismissed, and the arrest deemed not to have occurred. Proposition 36 requires the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to offer alcohol and other drug services to those choosing to participate in this program. Several examples of community recovery and prevention services applicable to the Proposition 36 population were presented at the Prevention Panel at the 34th annual HAFC-UCSF Conference, "Therapeutic Justice: Treatment, Prevention and Research," in June of 2001. These examples, summarized from the conference presentations, are presented in this paper to provide an indication of the utility and breadth these services offer for meeting community and client needs under Proposition 36. The community services described might all be in place in a given city. These services include outreach services to encourage use of Proposition 36 services and to gain public acceptance for them; neighborhood recovery centers that create the opportunity for sustainable sobriety for recovering people and link youth to community resources and to community service; safe, affordable, sober living places for people who want to have support for sober living; a robust network of peer-based, counselor-supported information that links Proposition 36 participants to education, training, and job opportunities; and local coalitions and interagency task forces to protect the community against continued exposure to drug problems by managing the city's retail alcohol outlets, by creating alcohol and other drug-free public spaces and public events, and breaking up drug markets as soon as they appear. 11 notes and 23 references