SACRAMENTO - A popular and successful citizen initiative, Proposition 36, could be rewritten tonight when the California Assembly votes on a budget trailer bill, SB 1137. Supporters of the drug-treatment law say the trailer bill violates the intent of the program voters approved, and they will fight to prevent the bill from getting the 54 votes it needs to pass.

Dave Fratello, a co-author of Prop. 36, said, "SB 1137 makes dozens of changes to Prop. 36. It adds hundreds of words to the law and alters the spirit of this program completely. This is a sneaky, underhanded effort to undermine a voter mandate in a budget trailer bill."

SB 1137 contains the substance of a bill, SB 803, that was introduced last year by Sen. Denise Ducheny (D ­ Imperial), and which the Drug Policy Alliance and other Prop. 36 supporters have consistently opposed. It was converted to a budget trailer last week after Sen. Ducheny was unable to generate support for the bill in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

The anti-Prop. 36 trailer bill would, among other things, allow people who are actively engaged in Prop. 36 treatment to be incarcerated for suffering a relapse, even though relapse is a common and survivable part of the recovery process. Under Prop. 36, the appropriate response to relapse is escalation and intensification of treatment--not withdrawal from treatment.

 Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D - Los Angeles) will put SB 1137 up for a separate vote after the Assembly approves the state budget. The trailer bill needs 54 votes, a two-thirds majority, to pass. As the vote approaches, neither supporters nor opponents of the bill are certain of the level of support.

Margaret Dooley, Prop. 36 Outreach Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance, said, "We will pull out all the stops today to rally opposition to this bill. We are asking our supporters to remind their legislators that this law was approved by California voters and remains popular. It has been a major success and has saved taxpayers over $1 billion. Prop. 36 must not be rewritten just to satisfy its die-hard opponents in law enforcement."

Prop. 36 was approved by 61 percent of voters in November 2000. Since its enactment, 60,000 people have graduated from drug treatment under the law -- many of whom would have been jailed without it. A cost-benefit study by UCLA researchers showed the program saved $173.3 million in the first year, or $2.50 for every $1 invested. Total savings reached over $1.3 billion in five years, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.