JUDGE: IMPRISONMENT NO CURE FOR COUNTRY'S DRUG EPIDEMIC

YUCCA VALLEY - Drug abuse and addiction is an epidemic everywhere in
this country, including the Morongo Basin.

This was Superior Court Judge Bert Swift's message to the people
assembled for February's Coffee with the Mayor meeting Tuesday.

Stating in his introduction that he was present to "educate the
audience," he went on to instruct the group in what he described as
the country's failure to deal with the problem in an effective way.

Current efforts that rely too heavily on incarceration, Swift
declared, merely contribute to a "revolving door" situation, which he
observed is what characterizes drug-use histories in general.

Those who have served time for drug related crimes are charged again
with drug crimes at a rate of about 70 to 75 percent, he reported.

Without appropriate treatment, we can't realistically expect the
failure rate to improve, he said.

Drug Court is a drug-use intervention program Swift helps administer.
A team approach, it connects the services of various legal system
departments with in-the-field service providers.

Together, the team members constitute a network that can supervise
program cases and, if necessary, lower the judicial boom, so to speak,
on program members who violate program rules.

The recidivism (return-to-jail) rate for this program, according to
Swift, is about 30 to 35 percent, although he made it clear in his
presentation that any program's success rate is dependent on its personnel.

What Swift wanted most to illustrate by use of his program as an
example is that drug-use correction is a challenging affair requiring
a variety of committed resources. It is, nevertheless, he emphasized,
less challenging to both our fiscal and social economies than is the
current state of affairs which simply finances punishment without any
complementary investment in reducing the need to punish.

Swift did not presume to suggest that the Drug Court program is the
answer to this nation's drug problem. That, he said, would require
identification of the underlying cause for drug use in general, and
identification of a suitable intervention.

The Drug Court program, he explained, is only part of a
multi-dimensional approach to drug abuse in this country, and an
effective solution will require efforts in education, prevention,
support systems, political leadership and cooperation from the
neighbors in every community.

Of the many drugs commonly associated with civil offense, criminal
activity and incarceration, Swift named crack cocaine and crystal
methamphetamine as the worst. People turn to them for cheap
distraction, entertainment and any number of other escapist reasons,
including relief from physiological and emotional imbalances.

Recounting research studies that claim at least 33 percent of American
society is struggling with "a depressed state of mind," he concluded
that a national malaise such as this must be addressed before we can
help the afflicted to resist reaching for dangerous mood enhancers,
whether they are crystal meth, alcohol or prescription drugs.

Just how widespread the problem is in a community like the Morongo
Basin Swift illustrated with a demographic example. Take any two-block
radius within the Basin, he posited, and some form of drug use, drug
traffic or drug manufacture would be found within that area.

In the case of his own residence, he unhappily confessed, a meth lab
was recently raided just two blocks away.

In nothing Swift said was there any sound of apology for the criminals
against society or appeal for increased tolerance of their
misbehavior. Rather, he called for effective solutions to the drug
problem at-large, instead of an endless pursuit after every individual
who has a problem with drugs.

The federal funding for Drug Court will soon be running out and the
program will transfer to county oversight. Swift advised the people to
call and write their legislators and recommend continued federal support.