January 27, 2025
Vern Pierson is the district attorney of El Dorado County and was a co-sponsor of Proposition 36. He is a past president of the California District Attorneys Association.
Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
California’s drug crisis has only escalated, with so-called “compassionate solutions” like harm reduction and past policies that decriminalized hard drugs making things worse.
Many drug addicts in the state have essentially faced two stark choices: homelessness or incarceration. This false dichotomy has normalized substance abuse, endangered public safety and failed to address the root causes of both homelessness and addiction.
In response, California voters last fall overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36, a third option that prioritizes rehabilitation over incarceration and offers a clear path to recovery, helping break the cycle of addiction and homelessness.
Programs like syringe exchanges, for example, have fallen short in addressing addiction itself. While well-intentioned, these programs have led to unintended consequences, including public spaces littered with used needles, increased health risks and the normalization of drug use. While syringe exchanges help reduce disease transmission, they don’t always guarantee that people enroll in treatment programs, and research shows they can even increase mortality rates.
The scale of this problem is stark. In 2021 alone, nearly 11,000 Californians died from drug overdoses, with over two-thirds involving opioids like fentanyl. Each of these lives lost represents a missed opportunity for intervention and recovery. Prop. 36 has given the state a framework to address this crisis by requiring treatment and rehabilitation for people struggling with addiction. This approach has the potential to reduce recidivism, save lives and help people reclaim their futures.
Source: https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/01/addiction-homelessness-crisis-proposition-36/