PROGRAM TURNS LIVES AROUND

Drug Courts in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties regularly offer
some happy endings to sad stories.

Drug Court helps nonviolent people arrested for buying or possessing small
amounts of illegal drugs to kick their habit. They can avoid a trial,
conviction and criminal record by staying clean during a one-year program
of intensive counseling, treatment, rehabilitation and random urine testing.

Palm Beach County's Drug Court is the newest of the three in the region,
marking nine months since its startup on Nov. 6. At present, 209 drug
abusers are taking part. Dorrie Tyng, Drug Court coordinator, says many
participants have been "doing quite well" for the entire nine months. She
says officials will report soon on an evaluation of the program's progress
to date.

They also hope to add acupuncture treatment, which helps addicts reduce
their cravings, and probationary treatment to convicted offenders.

Broward's Drug Court recently marked its 10th anniversary as the third such
program in the nation. Miami-Dade's program, the first of its kind, has
been around for 12 years.

Drug Court is a win-win situation for all concerned: Jails and prisons
become less crowded; law-abiding people suffer less crime; people whose
lives might otherwise be lost find themselves; a compassionate and
effective alternative to incarceration helps combat an epidemic of drug
abuse; and taxpayers save, because a year of Drug Court costs far less than
a year of prison.

Now there are over 700 such courts in operation -- including 49 in Florida
- -- and 300 planned in the United States and other countries. Lawmakers this
year authorized creation of drug courts statewide. All this is powerful
evidence that the Drug Court system is working well and should be expanded.

Unfortunately, a proposed state constitutional amendment would hurt the
battle against drug abuse being waged so well by Drug Courts. The amendment
would have the effect of abolishing these courts and decriminalizing all
first- and second-time use, possession or purchase of all illegal drugs. It
would give offenders the automatic right to opt into a medical treatment
and rehabilitation program not run by the court system. The most
objectionable feature of the amendment is that, unlike in Drug Court,
offenders wouldn't need to stay clean and sober. They only need to stay in
the program for 18 months to avoid a criminal conviction and prison sentence.

That amendment is overkill, carrying the good principles of Drug Court to
extremes. Voters should not sign petitions favoring it or vote for it.