Democrats support crime measure Proposition 36 and call for “mass treatment” of Californians

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and other local Democratic politicians on Wednesday announced their support for Proposition 36, a crime reform bill on the ballot in November that they hope will force eligible Californians who regularly commit drug offenses to undergo substance abuse treatment.

“People are dying who shouldn't have to die and businesses are closing that shouldn't have had to close. There is an answer. The answer is treatment,” Mahan said at a morning press conference announcing a new fundraising committee he formed with two other elected officials. “That's why we're here today to support Proposition 36. Not because we want to go back to an era of mass incarceration, but because we want to move forward to an era of mass treatment.”

Read more:What exactly is Prop. 47? And how could California voters change it this year?

Their support conflicts with that of Governor Gavin Newsom and leading Democratic politicians in the state legislature, who have opposed the measure because they fear it could return California to an ineffective, tough-on-crime era that saw the state's prison population rise to unconstitutional levels.

But Mahan, who was just re-elected, said Proposition 36 will help get addicts of the deadly drug fentanyl the treatment they need by mandating court-ordered treatment for those convicted of a drug offense for the third time. The measure will also change parts of Proposition 47, a decade-old ballot proposal that downgraded some nonviolent property and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors in an effort to reduce the prison population.

Along with Mayors London Breed of San Francisco and Todd Gloria of San Diego, he was one of the first major city mayors to support this ballot proposal.

Eight lawmakers have already approved Proposition 36 this week. Meanwhile, Senate President pro tempore Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), House Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and several members of the Legislative Black Caucus have opposed the measure.

Mahan formed the new committee to support Proposition 36 alongside Sacramento District Attorney Tien Ho and Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen. They are vocal supporters of the attorney general's ballot initiative, drawing connections to homelessness, the fentanyl crisis and the rise in shoplifting, three cornerstones of the November ballot bill.

Read more:Despite objections from some Democrats, the California legislature passes bills to curb shoplifting

The Proposition 36 campaign received over nine million dollars in support from major retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot, Target and In-N-Out Burger.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.