DRUG PROGRAM BETTER THAN SENDING OFFENDERS TO CROWDED JAILS

Today's criminal-justice statistics are dark and growing darker: More than 2
million people in U.S. prisons... More than 400,000 doing time for drug
offenses... Millions of other crimes committed to get money for drugs.

Across Washington state, local jails suffer overcrowding -- more than 30
percent over their total cell capacity. Of the more than 40,000 adult
criminal cases filed in superior courts across our state each year, nearly
one-third are for substance abuse.

The overload on Washington's justice system is so bad, more than a quarter
million misdemeanor warrants are outstanding today -- never served because
local courts and law enforcement are overloaded and underfunded.

Judges, attorneys and others in the legal community worry about a crisis
that's grown, unnoticed by the general public: With the overload of criminal
cases, our courts have effectively lost the ability to offer justice to
citizens in civil matters.

This year's Legislature, grappling with the financial woes of Initiative
695, didn't address the crises in Washington's courts and justice system.
But one little ray of light flickered in the political darkness: Some
money -- not much -- was appropriated for Washington's young system of drug
courts.

Rep. Ida Ballasiotes, R- Mercer Island, co-chair of the House Criminal
Justice and Corrections Committee, has focused on the soaring drug-crime
numbers in our state. Last year she led an effort to research alternatives
to prison, especially treatment.

Ballasiotes also kept an eye on the work of the drug courts that have arisen
in several Washington counties during the past five years. Using some pilot
federal funds, pooled with county dollars, those programs provide
court-supervised treatment, with follow-up reviews, drug tests, therapy and
other counseling for participating drug offenders. It's usually about a
one-year process for each participant.

The goal is to have the offender kick the habit and move on to a productive
life. It's not open to someone who's committed a violent crime or a sex
crime. If qualified, the offender can have criminal charges dropped: "That's
the big carrot" -- the incentive to participate, Ballasiotes says. But, if
the judge decides the participant isn't complying with the rehab program,
there's "a big stick": Conviction of the crime is automatic.

Since their beginning in Florida in 1989, drug courts have been growing in
number and perfecting their treatment and follow-up methods. The courts also
have been developing a track record: It's mostly good, Ballasiotes says.

In Washington drug courts, there have been scenes of triumph, such as the
tears of joy shed by attorneys and spectators when the judge announced the
young woman participant had given birth and the new baby is drug-free.
Federal Magistrate Ric Martinez, of Sammamish, King County's first
drug-court judge, recalls that, through his years presiding in drug court,
he was able to announce the birth of nine babies all drug-free. "For
everyone, that's a real thrill," the judge said.

Ballasiotes does the math: It's costing county taxpayers about $55 a day for
each of those thousands of inmates in county jails. State taxpayers are
paying more than $25,000 a year for each of those thousands of inmates in
state prisons.

All surveys indicate that drug-court treatment programs, by reducing jail
and prison population and lessening repeat offenses, provide $10 in savings
for every dollar that's spent. "You spend some money now to save a whole lot
more money later," Ballasiotes reasoned. "That's money well spent." It's
also bettered human lives.

A congressional pilot program helped launch drug courts. (An informative Web
site is offered by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals:
www.nadcp.org) But, as that congressional pilot effort ends and federal
dollars now disappear, local and state jurisdictions scramble to find
funding.

In the recent overtime budget session of the Washington Legislature, "We
were asking for $900,000" for the drug courts program, Ballasiotes said.
But, in a session with so many conflicting money demands, there was
resistance. Some legislators argued that drug courts should be a budget
responsibility of counties.

In the state budget that finally was approved, there was a compromise --
just over $442,000 for drug courts. "The courts are still underfunded, but
it's a good start," Ballasiotes said. (Drug court programs in many counties
have an annual budget greater than that state total.)

But the action was significant: It was the first time the state of
Washington has made an investment in drug courts. It should be the start of
an ongoing effort that can pay huge dividends to Washington taxpayers.