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According
to a recent Press Democrat article, 80 percent
of people now in treatment are referred
by the court and more than half of all court
referrals are methamphetamine addicts. This
was given in a report in July, 2006 to the
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
The report said that local
methamphetamine use "significantly
increased" in the 1990's "but
has changed little since then," and
alcohol still accounts for the most admissions.
However, by fiscal year 2004 through 2005,
the last for which full data is available,
admissions for methamphetamine exceeded
the number of county wide admissions for
all illicit drugs combined.
Proposition
36, The Substance Abuse Crime Prevention
Act, was adopted by initiative as Proposition
36 at the November 7, 2000, General Election
operative July 1, 2001, which has been impetus
for treatment. This law had been opposed
by politicians, law enforcement, and many
treatment professionals. Despite the opposition,
it passed. The law requires treatment instead
of jail being offered to first and second-time
nonviolent drug use offenders. It allows
Judges to send defendants to jail only after
their third violation; sometimes there are
exceptions as well. Since it took effect
more than 3,000 people have been referred
to treatment in Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Superior Court
Judge Robert Boyd presides over most of
the County’s drug related cases in
Courtroom 15 on the first floor of the courthouse,
next to the jail. Judge Boyd is quoted as
saying that he has sent hundreds of the
accused into treatment rather than jail,
and he is squarely in the camp of those
who once doubted its use but now believe
it is the key to cutting drug abuse and
related crime. Judge Boyd is also quoted
as saying in the Press Democrat article
dated August 20, 2006,
"We are getting people
off meth...off for appreciable periods of
time and staying off." Judge Boyd also
said, "I think we simply need to have
better and more treatment available for
everybody who needs it." |
