CREATIVE COURTS

For many convicted of using or possessing illegal drugs, jail is the
easy way. Do the crime, do the time and, too often, start the cycle
all over again. There is another way and for some abusers convicted of
drug-related offenses, it has the potential for breaking the cycle
that sends the same faces before the same judges, time after time. But
it isn't easy. They are called specialty courts, courtrooms where
defendants and their attorneys work closely with prosecutors, drug
counselors, judges and therapists to accomplish more than simply
sending lawbreakers to jail.

Early results show that that these so-called therapeutic courts work.
By mixing therapy, close supervision, strict and unannounced drug
testing, requiring defendants to remain in school or jobs, as well as
meeting such commitments as paying child support and staying away from
tempting environments, motivated drug abusers are finishing their
sentences with a chance of staying clean and free.

Such intense attention is more than some drug addicts can take. Of
those accepted for drug courts, 31 to 36 percent are kicked out for
infractions or drop out on their own. Some spend a few days in jail
for missing drug tests. And it is not a magic cure: 18 percent of
participants are rearrested within 12 months, but when that is
compared to the 44 percent of those not in the program who are
rearrested, it seems a system worth continuing and possibly expanding.

Thirteen judicial districts, including courts in Wake, Durham and
Orange counties, have drug courts. Many of them are running out of
money. Some programs have stayed alive by using volunteers, but for
others in urban areas the case load is simply too big to depend on the
public spiritedness of volunteers.

Preventing crime is frustratingly complex. And although intervention
may be more expensive than simple incarceration in the beginning, in
the long run it can the best bargain on the courthouse shelf.