TREATMENT, NOT JAIL, FOR ADDICTS

Virtually all credible research on addiction shows treatment programs
are the most effective antidote to drug and alcohol abuse. Likewise,
study after study has shown that our criminal justice system places
entirely too much emphasis on the capture, trial and incarceration of
minor drug offenders.

Now comes the Cook County courts system with a common-sense effort
that recognizes these too-often-ignored truths. Criminal Court
presiding Judge Thomas Fitzgerald and State's Atty. Richard Devine are
expanding a pilot program in which non-violent repeat offenders,
re-arrested for possessing small amounts of cocaine or heroin, can opt
for rigorous addiction treatment rather than risk trial and possible
jail time.

An immediate benefit of this will be to reduce the huge number of
so-called "Class 4" drug cases (possession of less than a gram) that
have been clogging the criminal courts. In the pilot program that
began last spring, prosecutors discovered that defendants offered the
treatment option in the "crisis moment" immediately after their
arrest--when they realize they need help--tend to take the offer.

Remarkably, however, some 40 percent ultimately turn it down and go to
trial. This may indicate that the choices aren't being adequately
explained, or that offenders figure the punishments being assessed by
the court are less fearsome than treatment. Either way, the incentives
bear re-examination.

That criticism aside, the diversion of small-time drug defendants into
treatment programs is to be applauded. Studies have shown that every
tax dollar spent on treatment saves $7 in government expenditures down
the line. Recovering addicts have fewer arrests, hospitalizations,
periods of unemployment and so forth. These findings were reconfirmed
recently by a group called Physician Leadership on National Drug
Policy, a non-partisan gathering of public health experts who have
served in the Clinton, Bush and Reagan administrations.

Inadequate funding has been the problem. The Cook County program is
being underwritten by a special $400,000 federal grant. Elsewhere,
however, inner-city inpatient and outpatient treatment programs have
long, long waiting lists. And incredibly, state and federal funding
for this purpose has been dwindling--a penny-wise, pound-foolish
budgetary choice if ever there was one.

Treatment is no panacea. It's not cheap, and re-addiction rates are
discouragingly high. But it's the best anti-drug weapon society has,
and the courts are wise to make greater use of it.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry