They continue in a drug treatment program for a period of 18 months. Their entire probation period is anywhere from 3 to 5 years. Obispo County acting chief of probation. Also, unlike drug court, where people can be sent back to jail right away if they don't stay clean, under Prop. 36, drug users aren't sent to jail until after their third violation. For opponents of Prop. 36, that's not strict enough.
Drug addiction takes away people's ability to make decisions.
We have to have some backup. Arizona passed a measure similar to California's Prop. 36 in 1996. Now the state sends drug offenders to treatment programs rather than to jail. The debate over whether it's working is still going on. The same report reported that in 1998 the state was estimated to be 78 percent drug-free.