Promising system

Though the muchballyhooed war on drugs has often fizzled, some related
success stories bear enthusiastic noting.

One is the drug courts, which offer treatment for nonviolent drug
offenders as an alternative to jail. By all accounts, the system is working
quite well.

For years, the nation offered only a kneejerk response to the drug
menace harsher penalties and mandatory jail sentences. The "just say no"
mantra was as ineffectual as the cry to lock 'em up and throw away the key.

The result was that prisons bulged with people convicted of drug offenses.
Judges had no discretion in sentencing. But as the prisons became more
overcrowded and the legal system was swamped with petty drug crimes, even
hardline lawandorder advocates began looking for a better way.

The drug courts devised eight years ago in Miami have shown promise. Drug
addicts facing prison sentences are given the choice of receiving treatment
instead, with prison space reserved for bigtime drug traffickers. This
certainly is a smarter approach.

The program, which includes some 45,000 people enrolled in 350 drug courts
throughout the country, uses a carrotandstick approach. Addicts are sent to
treatment programs, offered job counseling and helped with family problems.

Once enrolled, they undergo intense supervision by a judge and the
probation department and are subjected to mandatory drug testing, with
escalating punishment including prison for those who fail to live up to
the standard.

Camden was the first New Jersey city to offer the program, and three other
counties have programs in the works. Funded in part by federal dollars, drug
courts have flourished. The number in the planning or operational stages has
tripled over the past year.

The Clinton administration has proposed $75 million for drug courts in
fiscal 1998, a 150 percent increase over 1997. More than $1 million is
earmarked for the Garden State to help develop or expand drug courts in
Hudson, Essex, Passaic and Camden counties. This would be a welcome addition
to our drug fighting efforts.

While some still balk at the idea of giving people a chance to enter
treatment rather than prison, the program works, and some of the most
unlikely suspects have been transformed once given a sensible alternative.

The drug courts are not for everyone, nor should they be. But they are
effective in fighting drugrelated crime, especially among nonviolent
offenders. Congress would be wise to approve funding for a valuable tool in
battling the nation's drug problem.

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