ADDICTION OF DRUG MONEY

The money and power associated with illegal drugs can be as addictive as
the drugs themselves.

Nashville's attention to teen drug problems is attention well placed. Not
content with results, Metro juvenile authorities continue to look at ways
to weaken the drug scourge on young lives in all its facets.

A juvenile drug court, patterned after Metro's drug court for adults, is to
be opened shortly. Like its criminal court counterpart, the facility is
meant to provide an alternative to jail for first offenders or non-violent
offenders. Those placed in drug court don't get off scot-free; they must
receive treatment and meet specific goals outlined by the judge.

But as prosecutors and judges know, teens don't have to use drugs to be
involved in criminal behavior. Teens out to make big money deal drugs,
often creating violence for themselves and filling up the jails with users.

The senseless violence and dangerous fallout from drug dealing has led
Metro court officials to begin seeking more effective ways to deal with the
dealers. The number of juveniles charged with possession for resale has
doubled in just five years both statewide and in Nashville.

Metro has a one-day course aimed at teen dealers to show the problems of
drug dealing versus the benefits of legitimate business enterprise. It's a
tough sale. Some teen brokers are as addicted to the money associated with
selling drugs as they would be to the drugs themselves. Juvenile court
prosecutor Jim Todd argues for a program that punishes while also showing
teens a better way.

But for the most part, resources are limited. In the absence of state
attention, Nashville's efforts must continue to focus on all aspects of
drug traffic. Without clients, dealers wouldn't exist. Without dealers,
clients would have to face their addictions. And fewer juvenile offenders
would go on to become adult offenders. Investing in solutions is a strong
model to show young drug entrepreneurs that there's a better way.