Substance Abuse in America: Then and Now

Edward Perez, University of La Verne

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review drug diversion from one of the first national drug diversion programs in the country, Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) which commenced in the early 1970's to a contempoary version referred to as The Drug Courts. One of the authors, Visiting Professor Edward Perez, Uiversity of La Verne, College of Law was personally involved with a test project in San Diego County, CA. in 1974. The paper reviews the success of such programs, the law associated with drug diversion, the controversy surrounding federal sentencing guidelines for drug crimes and personal interviews with several distinguished government officials actively involved in the California Criminal Justice System that comment on California's drug diversion programs. This paper was presented at the Oxford Roundtable Criminal Justice Symposium, at Oxford University, Oxford England on March 14, 2008 by Professor Perez.