California voters spoke loudly in Tuesday's election in favor of a new approach toward fighting the war on drugs that emphasizes rehabilitating users rather than locking them up. Now the sponsors of Proposition 36, which diverts nonviolent drug users from incarceration to treatment, plan to use their victory to try to persuade other states, including Ohio, Michigan and New York, to change their drug laws. During the past three decades, voters have routinely approved measures to expand the death penalty, impose lengthy sentences on repeat offenders and treat juvenile offenders more harshly. By contrast, Proposition 36 would keep between 25,000 and 37,000 nonviolent drug users, including parole violators, out of jail and prison each year and send them to treatment centers.
Backers say the initiative is an attempt to treat addiction like a sickness rather than a crime.
Proposition 36 was one of five successful measures on Tuesday's ballots in several states sponsored by a trio of wealthy businessmen. Others legalized medical marijuana in Colorado and Nevada and tightened asset forfeiture laws in Oregon and Utah. So far, the three businessmen, led by New York financier George Soros, have passed 17 of the 19 drug-related measures they have bankrolled, including a 1996 California initiative legalizing medical marijuana. The fact that it was approved by such a large margin enhances the power of our message. Nadelmann said his organization, the Lindesmith Center, plans to build on the California experience to try similar ballot measures in states like Michigan, Ohio and Florida.