DRUG COURT WON'T STOP ADDICTIONS

This letter is written in response to the May 15 editorial regarding the
local drug court and how it might stop addiction.

The editorial claims that the drug court will "break the cycle of
addiction," which is seen as a cause of most of the crime in the Magic
Valley. They also claim that a drug court will save taxpayers money.

These claims are unfounded. The drug court will most likely not stop the
cycle of addiction. In fact, most addicts admitted to front-end strategies
such as "rehabilitation" end up relapsing and eventually ending up back in
the court system. Case in point: Robert Downey Jr., the award-winning
actor, is in court once again on charges of drug possession. He can't seem
to successfully fight his addiction, even though he's been to many drug
treatment programs.

No spouse, child, job or even court-ordered drug rehabilitation program can
be successful until an addict decides for himself or herself to stop. You
cannot force anyone to halt a drug addiction.

The drug court will probably not save taxpayers money either. Taxpayers
will still end up paying for incarceration, since drug treatment is usually
unsuccessful. Plus, the community will have to bear the tax burden a
special judge, staff and venue devoted to the task of eradicating addiction
will create. I bet it would be enlightening to find out what percentage of
people admitted to court-mandated drug treatment programs end up back in
front of a judge.

If you want to stop crime resulting from drug abuse, you have to throw
offenders in jail. Those who beat their spouses, neglect their children and
steal obviously deserve to be incarcerated, as it is no one's privilege to
violate the rights of others. Let's not spend money on a frivolous campaign
like the drug court. It will not be able to correct morality, nor will it
save taxpayers money.

JOSEPH J. KALANGE

Twin Falls