DRUG PROGRAM SEEKS TO REDUCE CRIME

TRENTON - Tim Turner's life has changed "dramatically" for the better. He
thanks a new Gibson County Drug Court.

Turner, 34, had been in and out of jail for crimes related to a drug
problem. He was last in jail for two thefts under $500 and criminal
trespassing when he got the chance to enter the drug court, which started
in July.

Turner has been "clean and sober" for seven months, a sobriety that started
in jail, he said. He has a full-time job, is engaged to be married and is
back in contact with a daughter he's been away from for 10 years, he said.

"There's no words to say how much it's helped me," Turner said. "But it was
a decision that I had to make. Instead of existing, I wanted to start
living. It's allowed me to make amends for a lot of people I've hurt."

The drug court is a yearlong program aimed at reducing drug-related crime
by providing treatment and counseling for drug users. It provides an
alternative to jail but is "intensive," said General Sessions Judge James
Webb, one of the court's organizers.

Research shows that about 70 percent of all crimes are drug related, Webb
said. That figure splits three ways:

* Crimes for literal drug use such as public intoxication

* Crimes to get drugs

* Crimes that stem from being under drug influence such as domestic
violence. In Gibson County, 44 percent of all arrests in 2001 fit only the
first category, Webb said.

"If you take 44 percent and add it to the (percentages from the) other two
categories, I think 70 percent is reasonable" for Gibson County, Webb said.

There are 1,200 drug courts nationwide, including one in Jackson. Some
claim to have cut their repeat-offender rates by 50 percent or more, Webb said.

The City of Jackson Drug Treatment Court started in December but "opened
for business" March 7, director Damien Nethery said. It has eight active
clients and another eight in the referral process.

The Gibson County program has 12 to 15 clients and could handle as many as
60 if it gets a $500,000 federal Bureau of Justice grant it has applied
for, Webb said. They'll know that some time this month.

But the program will continue, regardless, Webb said. The court did not
require any extra county funding, he added.

The drug court team consists of Webb, Public Defender Tom Crider, Assistant
District Attorney General Jerald Campbell, Court Administrator Angie
Partee, Probation Services Officer Monica Bridges and Buffalo Valley Case
Manager Debbie Benjamin.

Buffalo Valley in Hohenwald provides the program's inpatient alcohol and
drug treatment.

The six have received the required training through the National Drug Court
Institute and have visited drug courts in San Francisco, Jacksonville,
Fla., and New York City since January.

Lawyers or judges recommend clients to the program.

That happens after they have completed the court process and been found
innocent or guilty. Violent offenders don't qualify.

Those who do qualify, get inpatient treatment. Then, the regimen includes
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, weekly appearances before the drug court and
weekly and random drug tests.

Clients must have jobs or participate in job training, community service or
educational programs.

"It's a more intensive program than just putting someone on a suspended
sentence or supervised probation," Webb said.