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| 23 June 2000 - The San Diego Union-Tribune Substance Abuse Act dangerous, misleading By Michael Williams Re: "Is imprisoning addicts the best policy?" (Opinion, June 15): Despite the contrary assertions of Gretchen Bums-Bergman and David Beck-Brown, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 is a dangerous and misleading initiative. Dangerous, because it undermines truly effective drug abuse treatment efforts under way; and misleading, because it has absolutely nothing to do with crime prevention. Treatment providers and substance abuse researchers uniformly agree that successful treatment requires three very important elements: The abuser must start treatment, must complete treatment, and must be monitored by way of drug testing as insurance against relapse. Our existing drug courts, through therapeutic, coerced treatment, provide nonviolent substance abusers the opportunity to enter effective programs and the incentive to successfully complete treatment. The ability of the courts to impose drug testing serves to insure full compliance, greatly enhancing the likelihood of success. The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act completely ignores the true realities of treatment and will sabotage successful drug court programs. It will spend $120 million of taxpayer money, but specifically prohibits funds from being used for drug testing. Without testing, there is no assurance treatment is working, and no accountability for abuser or treatment provider. At a time when drug courts are having a real impact, this initiative purports to do essentially the same job, but without the oversight of judges and the ability to monitor compliance. It is backed primarily by out-of-state money from those seeking to legalize drugs. Bums-Bergman and Beck-Brown are correct in asserting that "mandatory (forced) treatment has been proven to work." That assertion is the foundation for drug courts. But they are incorrect in their belief that the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act is the answer. Article Snapshot (23K) |
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