THUMBS UP FOR ESTABLISHING DRUG COURT

Thumbs up for the establishment of a drug court in Marlboro County.
The program is for nonviolent offenders whose crimes are driven by
addiction, 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge said, and began Monday
when it was announced. Marlboro County joins Chesterfield - which
also is in the 4th Judicial Circuit - Greenville and Laurens counties
as the only ones in the state licensed by the state Department of
Health and Environmental Control to have their own in-house drug
treatment program.

A $350,000 grant from the federal government will allow the court to
be conducted in Marlboro County for two years.

Hodge said some of the drug court requirements include counseling
with certified counselors, attendance at Narcotics or Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings, involvement in the faith-based community and
public service requirements. He said it could save plenty of taxpayer
dollars in the long run. "Right now, in so many places, as in this
county up until now, the only option was to send them to prison where
it costs $20,000 to $22,000 a year to warehouse them," he said. "Now,
look at the savings, not only for that particular person, but for
their family and their extended family and for society in general,
because we have restored a taxpaying citizen to society." Programs
such as these, which have a record of success, are a clear benefit to
our community.