SUPPORT "DRUG COURT" EXPERIMENT

Jails are full of small-time criminals whose basic problem is an
addiction to drugs. Their habit makes it hard for them to hold down a
job, so they commit crimes (like stealing, selling drugs,
prostitution) to get money to get high, and then they get busted.

If they don't get treatment for their problem, they usually wind up
right back where they started as soon as they return to the street.

That's why there's plenty to be said for plans by Schenectady County
Judge Michael Eidens and City Court Judge Karen Drago to open a pair
of "drug courts" in Schenectady. The courts, run with the support of
the U.S. Justice Department in hundreds of local jurisdictions, employ
a different approach to addicts than regular criminal courts. The most
significant difference is that they mandate treatment as an
alternative to jail for non-violent addicts, the goal being to break
the vicious cycle that gives cities like Schenectady a bad reputation,
ties up the courts and fills up the jails.

Even if drug treatment was more expensive than incarceration, there
would be a strong argument for biting the bullet and paying for it.
Addiction has so many hidden costs - societal as well as financial -
that it's difficult to reach an accurate cost estimate.

Worker productivity, health - the addict's as well as family members'
- - welfare, law enforcement; all are affected by drug addiction in ways
that cost businesses and taxpayers dearly. Children's lives are
damaged, sometimes irreparably. And there is a huge cost to cities
when their streets are perceived as unsafe because of drug addicts.

But it so happens that treatment is cheaper than incarceration:
According to a 1997 American University study, the price tag for the
average treatment program was between $900 and $2,200 per participant
- - or $5,000 less than a jail bed.

Treatment programs vary in cost and effectiveness, but a Justice
Department study of "drug courts" around the land found recidivism
rates ranging from 2 percent to 20 percent. That's much better than
under the traditional approach.

The `drug court' plan certainly warrants a try in Schenectady - and
the community's support.