Drug Policy Alliance -- Prop 36 Works

Lou Martinez went to the California Capitol last week to explain to legislators the importance of continuing to make substance abuse treatment available. Lou is one of more than 60,000 graduates of California’s voter-enacted Proposition 36, the state’s six-year-old, treatment-instead-of-incarceration law. Now he is a treatment counselor in Sacramento, working with a few of the 36,000 people currently enrolled in substance abuse programs through Prop. 36 statewide.

Last Thursday, Lou testified at a budget hearing to share how positively Prop. 36 has intervened in his life.

“I had been using drugs throughout the 1990s, and arrested numerous times for simple possession and being under the influence…. It wasn’t until I was referred into Prop. 36 that I was able to get the treatment that I needed…. I was able to receive services from highly trained, seasoned counselors. I was able to receive psychological services, physical health screening, and employment opportunities and referrals. And I was put in a sober living environment for 90 days, because I was homeless at the time.”

Go to the DPA article here