MANY BENEFITS TO DRUG COURT

There should be no missed opportunity to praise the work of the state's
drug courts, which give drug users who have been convicted of crimes a
chance to get their lives together without going to prison.

Drug court, like the one operated in the circuit court district that
includes Leflore County, gives people a chance to clean up their own lives,
which is enough reason to support the program. But it also keeps taxpayer
costs down by requiring participants to find work and stay clean during
their time in drug court - all of which is a lot less expensive than
putting an addict in prison for a couple of years.

The topic arose last week when the drug court in Jackson, George and Greene
counties "graduated" its first nine participants. The court won't save all
the addicts. But it did save nine. That's a start.