COURT OKS BALLOT DRIVE DRUG-TREATMENT PUSH SET FOR 2004

The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a proposal to let some drug
offenders avoid jail by entering treatment programs can go on the ballot,
but it won't happen until 2004.

A month ago, the Florida Campaign for New Drug Policies said it was giving
up its push to make the November ballot because the high court had not yet
ruled on its proposed constitutional amendment.

To get before voters, sponsors of petition drives must collect half a
million signatures and be cleared by the state's high court, which reviews
citizen initiatives to make sure that their ballot language is clear and
that they deal with only one subject, as required.

The campaign announced that it would instead collect signatures to get its
proposal before voters in 2004.

The measure is called "Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for
Non-Violent Drug Offenses." It would let people charged with or convicted
of possessing or buying small amounts of illegal drugs go into a treatment
program instead of to trial or jail.

The treatment option would be limited to a first or second offense. People
facing felony drug charges or serious drug misdemeanors would not be eligible.

West Coast led the way

The idea is modeled after California's Proposition 36, approved by voters
last year.

A Santa Monica, Calif., organization called Campaign for New Drug Policies
sponsored the California measure and other drug initiatives in several
other states.

Currently the group is pushing similar proposals in Michigan, Ohio and the
District of Columbia, according to Dave Fratello, the group's political
director.

Fratello said the group also got clearance Thursday in the District of
Columbia for its ballot measure.

Except for Florida's, all other current petition drives are aiming for the
2002 ballot.

The group is financially supported by New York billionaire George Soros,
John Sperling of Phoenix and Peter Lewis of Cleveland.

Fratello called Thursday's ruling "a victory for everyone who sees the
failure and hypocrisy of Florida's drug laws."

He said nearly 300,000 signatures had been collected before the drive was
suspended a month ago. The campaign will begin again in a few months, he said.

"The eyes of the world will be on Florida's ballot in 2004," he said. "It
is the perfect place and time to stir a national debate on the drug war.

"We expect a vigorous and hard-fought campaign, and we expect to win."

Opposition from Bush

Not if Gov. Jeb Bush has anything to say about it, said spokeswoman Lisa Gates.

"The governor will work hard to defeat that," she said, adding he thinks it
will lead to increased drug use.

"To be successful you need not only treatment but you need punishment
also," she said. Bush's daughter Noelle has been undergoing treatment since
her Jan. 29 arrest on charges of trying to buy Xanax with a fraudulent
prescription.