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Press-Telegram: Another View: Vice Mayor Cindy Allen on supporting Prop. 36

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Long Beach’s Vice Mayor and Second District City Councilmember argues in favor of Prop. 36.

This article was originally published in the Press-Telegram

By Vice Mayor and Second District City Councilmember Cindy Allen, contributing writer 

 would like to take a moment to explain some of the reasons why I am voting in support of Proposition 36. As a former law enforcement officer, I am well aware that society cannot arrest its way out of the problems that are all too common today. I also understand some of the reasons behind Prop. 47, approved 10 years ago with the intent to lower incarceration levels and find alternative methods to address the challenges so prevalent in the justice system at that time.

As with most well-intended initiatives, there will always be some unintended consequences, but in the case of Prop. 47, we ended up with many negative outcomes for our communities.   Specifically, by changing the way we dealt with drug possession and under the influence statutes, we rendered the system dramatically unable to address the serious fallout that comes from significant addiction problems.

I have very personal reasons for feeling this way; I have family members who have dealt with virtually a lifetime of drug addiction issues. In one case, a family member was finally arrested for a crime frequently associated with drug addiction, which forced him to attend an addiction support program. To this day, after over two decades of addiction free living, he is grateful for the officer that finally arrested him. If you don’t also have a similar story within your own family, I’d bet a paycheck that someone in your circle of influence has a similar family story.

Prop. 36 will allow police to arrest a person who repeatedly (at least three times) is caught with hard drugs. The person caught will be offered treatment, and case will be dismissed when treatment is completed. With the unprecedented havoc that the Fentanyl explosion is causing in our country, we must bring back the ability for our governmental services to address this National crisis.

No matter what you read in opposition pieces to Prop. 36, use your own common sense to see the problem in society. Whether it is the homeless people you see on the street talking to themselves or living in utter squalor, or the highly addicted family member projecting a life of semi-control, you know we cannot allow this drug epidemic to continue unaddressed.

Another aspect of Prop. 36 that I support is the ability to start holding people accountable for the crimes of theft that are embarrassingly out of control within so many of our communities. Under Prop. 36, a person who repeatedly steals can be charged with a felony, which means there could be real consequences for habitual thieves and those who commit smash-and-grab crimes.

There is no society that will thrive if there are no consequences for the actions of the individual. But equally important on this issue, it is my opinion that for many people stealing, drug addiction is a contributing factor. By being able to arrest people for these repeat crimes, we will be in a position to incentivize addiction treatment in many cases instead of incarceration.

Please take the time to read about Prop. 36 for yourself and don’t just listen to politicians giving “opinions,” just like I’m doing right now. Once you’ve taken the time to do so, then look around your own community and see if you don’t think we need to vote for Prop. 36 to start making things better for those suffering from serious addiction, which in turn will help our communities and families at the same time.

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