DRUG COURT A WORTHWHILE NEW ANTI-DRUG TACTIC

The problem with the war on drugs does not start at the U.S. border. It
begins with people's addictions and continues when they are shipped off to
prison and returned to the streets six months later hard up for another hit
- - panhandling, prostituting and stealing their way through life. Buncombe
County's new Drug Court is an effort to blend rehabilitation with
punishment. It's not a silver bullet, it's a possible starting point to win
a battle in a losing war.

The Drug Court is not a proposal for slaps on the wrist in lieu of
punishment for drug users - it's a plan for combining punishment with
encouragement to avoid further penalties. Violent and habitual offenders and
drug dealers are not welcome. As with most successful intervention and
behavior modification programs, the Drug Court will use a multi-stage
approach to getting results.

At its very basic, in Stage 1, the defendant must show up for court every
other Friday, attend five Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week
and submit to two drug screenings and two home inspections per week. After
30 days, it's on to Stage 2 and then Stage 3 until the person is clean and
sober and ready for employment or further education. The user can work
toward having a drug conviction dismissed or reduced to a lesser charge and
avoid a prison term.

The taxpayers of North Carolina pay on average $26,000 a year for a
prisoner's upkeep. Recidivism is high for the inmates who then return to the
streets without having had the benefit of treatment for addictions. Drug
treatment costs between $2,500 to $3,000 per addict per year. It also offers
hope - that parents will return to homes and jobs as fully functioning
members of society. That's been the missing element of strict incarceration
and inevitable release of men and women who haven't changed and who still
can't control themselves in an environment of temptation.

"What we're doing obviously isn't working," says Judge Ronald K. Payne. "The
courts have to be willing to examine their role in the process. We are often
the only place with the authority to prompt a person to change."

The more successful the Drug Court programs become, the more employee hours
and other resources will be required to keep it running smoothly. But the
success of this program will mean fewer criminals in the revolving door of
the legal system that's already inundated and overburdened. By using the
technique of incentives rather than immediate punishment and setting the
tone for self-responsibility, communities ultimately benefit by having more
employable people in the workforce and more tax payers contributing to the
economy.

This Drug Court is a comment on our time and our society - it's a logical
development in a losing war. There will be discussions about its possible
effectiveness and even controversy about its social work. But this is a
resolutely honest social approach to a drug culture law enforcement has
proven an inability to eradicate.