SACRAMENTO, CA — One year after California voters passed Proposition 36, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said the measure has “moved us backward in time,” warning that instead of addressing the root causes of addiction and poverty, the state has returned to “punishing poverty and addiction.”
“People are being charged with felonies just for having a record,” Garcia said. “It creates truly lifelong barriers — in housing, jobs, stability — and it really doesn’t, at the end of the day, make our communities any safer. So we’ve gone back to criminalizing poverty and addiction.”
Passed in November 2024, Prop 36 was marketed as the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.” It was backed by major retailers like Target, Walmart, and Home Depot, along with law enforcement groups including the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the California District Attorneys Association. Supporters told voters the measure would expand access to treatment for people struggling with addiction…