Support for Prop 36 remains divided in Bay Area as debate over drug penalties continues

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Among the measures to be voted on in November is apparently the most controversial bill, Prop 36, which would increase penalties for certain drug and theft offenses.

Opponents of the proposal claim it would lead to mass incarceration.

However, many leaders, including those in San Mateo County, believe their community would benefit greatly.

Elizabeth Walker lives every day with the pain of losing her 17-year-old son, Colin, to cocaine laced with fentanyl.

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She hopes Prop 36 will ensure that no other parent has to suffer the same loss.

“My son was murdered,” Walker said. “Someone put poison in something he shouldn't have been drinking. But if you're an alcoholic and you go to a bar, you shouldn't order a drink. But do you deserve to die because someone put poison in your drink? Absolutely not.”

Supporters of Prop 36 say it will help families like the Walkers by imposing tougher penalties for drug dealers.

Had the law been passed at the time of Colin's death, the dealer could have been charged with murder as a result of Colin's death.

The proposal is seen as a reform of Prop 47, which reduced penalties for possession and theft of hard drugs. It aims to do this by holding drug dealers and repeat offenders of shoplifting and burglary accountable.

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Officials in San Mateo County are calling on their colleagues to support the measure.

“By voting for Proposition 36 tomorrow, the San Mateo Board of Supervisors can send a clear message that the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors joins the mayors of San Francisco and San Jose in providing a better and safer future for this region,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller.

However, not everyone in San Mateo County agrees with this call for support.

“I believe leadership needs to address the root of the problem: the cost of living in San Mateo County and the state of California, rather than locking people up,” said San Mateo County resident Jim Lawrence.

“We need to approach the problem from a medical perspective, not a prison perspective,” said Deacon Lauren Patton-McCombs of San Mateo County.

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Supporters of No on 36 say it takes California back to the failures of the 1980s and 1990s and the war on drugs.

Chief Justice Sam Lewis says California is paying billions in prison fees when people should be given more chances to improve.

“Instead, we're trying to find faster ways to lock people up and go back to mass incarceration,” Lewis said. “That's not going to work for us. We're criminalizing homelessness. We're criminalizing poverty. Is that what America is about? Is that what California is about?”

This is a controversial issue in California, and many Democratic leaders have spoken out against Proposition 36. Among them is Governor Gavin Newsom, who has openly criticized its supporters.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether or not to support Proposition 36 at their meeting Tuesday morning.