Proposition 36 is tremendously successful at saving lives, at saving money, at keeping families together and at turning people into taxpayers instead of tax users. It is not a silver bullet. But nothing better has been proposed by anyone.
( The state )has a budget hammer and regulatory power. Are they using it to the best effect?
We would like to see it picked up in other states, but we don't necessarily have millions on hand to run voter initiatives, and not every state has voter initiatives.
California has the highest per capita rate of incarceration of any state - or it did until Proposition 36.