A NEW DRUG FOR DRUG COURTS

OXYCONTIN has become a scourge to Southwest Virginia. Lawmakers and
law-enforcement officials are responding, as they must.

Let the response be tempered, though, by the lessons evident in the
nation's unending struggle against drug abuse. Pour money and effort into
education and treatment. Fall back on imprisonment as a final resort.

Democratic Del. Clarence "Bud" Phillips of Dickenson County has proposed a
bill in the General Assembly to make it easier for police to arrest
prescription-drug abusers and jail them for up to 12 months. That will be a
useful strategy only if the threat of jail time is regarded not as a
deterrent - which is sure to fail - but as a club to prod addicts into
treatment and keep them there.

Drug courts throughout the country, including in the Roanoke Valley, have
been far more successful than routine prosecutions at changing addicts'
behavior.

OxyContin misuse has generated a crime wave across much of rural Virginia.
Of course, addicts who commit robberies and burglaries to feed their habit
must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Simple users, though, should have the option of drug court, where the task
is recovery.