FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Proposition 36, the new state law tied to a decrease in retail theft, also offers a path forward for repeat drug offenders.

"It takes people several times to quit once they get kind of trapped into the substance use," David Daniel at WestCare California said. "They need time to come through."

"We spend months sitting with a person, working with them, and figuring out what their needs are," he added. "And then, hopefully, returning them to society at a different place than when they came in, as opposed to just pure incarceration."

Proposition 36 empowers prosecutors to crack down on retail theft and also places a new emphasis on drug crimes.

The law establishes a new court process prioritizing time in treatment over jail.

"It's obviously about accountability,

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