On November 4, Californians failed to pass Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which would have significantly expanded treatment-instead-of-incarceration in the state – including Proposition 36. What does the failure of Prop. 5 mean? It means that Prop. 36 remains the state’s largest treatment-not-jail program, and that protecting its funding is more important than ever. [More]

Just weeks after finally reaching agreement on a 2008-09 state budget (and just two days after the state went to the polls), the governor proposed an ambitious plan to keep the state afloat. The plan combines spending cuts and tax increases – including an increase in excise taxes on alcoholic beverages. [More]

Check out this great poster that sums up just some of what Prop 36 has meant for California in the last eight years! Download it and share it!

DPA released a report this week documenting the successes of Proposition 36, the California initiative that mandates treatment instead of incarceration for most people convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses. The report, entitled Proposition 36: Improving Lives, Delivering Results, found that Prop 36 had significant benefits for substance abuse treatment as well as reforms to the state's costly prison system.
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