SPARING DRUG TREATMENT IS A SMART PRESCRIPTION

Gov. Mark Warner has found $3.9 million to continue funding for Virginia's
drug courts and for a program serving inmates who are leaving prison and
jail. The value of such programs in reducing the human and financial costs
of prison is indisputable, and the legislature should approve the
amendments when it returns to Richmond on Wednesday.

More money would have been better. The recommended sum still reflects a 20
percent reduction in spending on the fledgling drug court program, which
seeks community, treatment-focused alternatives to strict incarceration for
low-level, drug-related offenses.

From a human perspective, attacking the underlying cause of criminality --
in this case, addiction -- makes more sense than trying to punish it away.
And from a financial perspective, reducing the number of people who wind up
in $30,000-or-so per year prison beds is a no-brainer.

It's unfortunate that some $18 million in substance abuse treatment for
juveniles, parolees and probationers under the so-called SABRE (Substance
Abuse Reduction Effort) didn't make its way back into the budget.

The rationale for such spending -- that treatment is the best way to stop
recidivism for drug offenders -- is the same as for the drug courts.
Unfortunately, at a time when a fragile economy and tax cuts have gobbled
up billions in state revenues, even well-justified programs are being axed.

For the future, full replenishment and expansion of programs aimed at
limiting prison populations need to be a priority. The Urban Institute in
Washington reported last year that 600,000 Americans leave prison each
year, and that nearly two-thirds of them are expected to be re-arrested for
serious misdemeanor or felony charges within three years.

If the 1990s tackled crime by growing the nation's prisons to their largest
level in history, then the first decade of the 21st century needs to focus
on the aftermath of incarceration.

Rehabilitation was out of vogue in the 1990s, but dumping ex-convicts back
in the community with no skills, no housing and -- in many cases -- no hope
is a prescription for disaster.

Warner and the legislature could make a huge public safety investment by
retaining and expanding Virginia's skimpy infrastructure for addressing an
overwhelming need.