California wise to pass drug law

California voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 36 on Election Day, which will allow non-violent drug users to receive treatment instead of prison time. This sensible law saves taxpayers money while addressing a system of punishment that is simply not working in California.\nAccording to a California legislative report, the state of California will spend about $20,000 less per prisoner per year by means of treatment as opposed to incarceration. This is an estimated tax savings of up to $250 million annually for California citizens, which would be re-routed to support drug education.\nThe California Department of Corrections estimates 25,000 new nonviolent drug users enter the California prison system every year, about a sixth of the total population. Because of California's "Three Strikes" law, these people are serving much longer sentences than in previous years, and with the state's correctional facilities at more than double their designed capacity, the cost of California prisons could skyrocket by $550 million during the next few years without Proposition 36, according to the legislative report.\nThe General Accounting Office, which handles investigation for Congress, reported that drug offenders who go to prison instead of rehabilitation are four times as likely to return to prison within five years.\nAnd according to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, about 15 percent of America's drug users are African-American, but 60 percent of California's nonviolent drug prisoners are African-American.\nThis proposition is specifically designed to support only nonviolent drug users -- not gang members, child abusers, drivers under the influence or any other type of violent criminal in California. \nDrug dealers are not covered by Proposition 36. Prosecutors say that, under the proposition, it would be unlikely to cut drug dealers a deal for a simple possession charge, which is a practice they commonly engage in.\nUnder Proposition 36, if any person in the drug treatment program fails a urine test, the judge who sentenced him or her to treatment has the power to immediately sentence that person to a prison sentence.\nIn an effort of bipartisan politics, losing California Senate candidate and Republican Tom Campbell called for support of the law, telling the Houston Chronicle the drug laws are obviously not working at present.\nMost importantly, Proposition 36 is not calling for a decriminalization of drugs. It simply offers a more rational, cost-efficient and human way to treat victims of drug abuse in California.\nStudies show that, despite the Three Strikes policy, heroin, cocaine and marijuana prices in California have steadily declined throughout the decade. If locking up these people are only making drugs more accessible, the present system is not working.\nThis law will help free up the crowded California prison system and, at the same time, begin to take away some of the stigma surrounding nonviolent drug users.