GARY DRUG COURT IS UNAPPRECIATED, BUT ITS RESULTS HOLD GREAT PROMISE

Our opinion: Court's approach to drug-related crime is a blueprint for
other courts to follow.

A person has to want to get off drugs in order to kick the dependency that
ruins so many lives. But the more support he or she gets, the more likely
the success.

Gary's Drug Court and its Second Chance Program are proving that. In four
years, 97 people have successfully complete the program, started by
then-City Judge Karen Freeman-Wilson.

That's 97 people who, instead of being in jail or part of the drug-crime
revolving door, are drug free and starting productive lives.

This is a program residents should appreciate because it changes lives for
the better instead of tossing them aside; it tries to solve a problem
instead of adding to it.

Freeman-Wilson is now Indiana's attorney general, but the program
continues, coordinated by the City Court and the Second Chance Foundation.

First-time drug offenders get the choice of serving time or entering the
52-week program, which requires them to remain drug-free, take weekly drug
tests, perform 200 hours of community service, attend drug counseling or
recovery programs, enroll in G.E.D. or job training classes and seek
employment. In return, criminal charges are dropped.

Many of the program's graduates say that standing in front of the judge and
hearing themselves assigned a criminal case number rocks them enough to try
to stop using drugs. It's the sustained support of treatment coordinators
and court staff that keeps them on track.

Freeman-Wilson got a grant from the U.S. Justice Department to start the
program. It is sustained partially by the fee defendants pay if they choose
to participate - $520 for Gary residents, $560 for non-residents.

More courts should use this approach. Turning lives around before they are
beyond repair is important. It means fewer abused and neglected children,
fewer crimes, less crowded jails, nicer neighborhoods and more responsible
residents.