POOL ASSETS AGAINST DRUG TRADE

Kentucky is combining forces to reverse its drug abuse "epidemic" and
ever-rising prison costs.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Lt. Gov. Stephen Pence and others think by
combining cabinet efforts and attacking substance abuse more
strategically, Kentucky not only can do more with less but rescue more
counties from the ravages of criminal drug traffic.

Lack of funds threaten county drug courts and other programs, but if
Kentucky follows through on its ambitious new strategy, it could
provide a national model of success.

Like Ohio and other states, Kentucky has good reason to switch from
just more of the same. Its state prisons grow ever more overcrowded.
Most inmates got there because of drug-related crimes.

It costs Kentucky almost $18,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate
compared to only $3,500 a year to treat the nonviolent in a diversion
program. "And you get a much more productive person afterwards," says
Sylvia Lovely, interim director of Kentucky's new Office of Drug
Control Policy (Web site www.odcp.ky.gov) .

The new office grew out of this year's statewide "summit" of law
enforcement officers, government officials, educators and treatment
providers.

They spent 20 weeks holding public meetings around the state and
assessing what works and what doesn't. Kentucky drug abuse is
expanding, including a prescription drug abuse epidemic that makes
some Eastern Kentucky counties rank worst in the nation on a per
capita basis. Kentucky law enforcement also reports "explosive" growth
in methamphetamine labs in rural counties. Yet the summiteers were not
all gloom-and-doom. They are convinced good treatment works. Part of
the optimism comes from the history of treating alcoholics: Forty
years ago, a 5 percent success rate was considered good. Today 70
percent success rates are common.

Drug courts account for much of the optimism.

Counties with drug courts swear by them. More than half of Kentucky's
120 counties have drugs courts headed by judges who oversee nonviolent
offenders diverted from prison into treatment.

But 17 counties are worried about losing federal grants that started
their drug courts. State officials want to expand drug courts to every
county, and expand substance abuse training for school resource
officers and others.

Former Maysville Police Chief Van Ingram heads the new drug policy
office's compliance branch.

He warns that the drug trade "is a very adaptable business." As soon
as police get better at doing one thing, drug traffickers switch to
something else. One sad, but hopeful sign at public meetings was the
turnout of the bereaved: Kentuckians who said they lost a son, a
brother, a cousin to drugs seek to rid their communities of addictive
drugs.

State officials admire Northern Kentucky counties for working
together, and want to bring that strategy to other parts of the
Commonwealth.

Proposed legislation will help, but it will take coordinated,
systematic action on multiple fronts to root out Kentucky's
devastating drug trade.