MORE DRUG COURTS GOOD FOR OKLAHOMA

The Legislature answered a much-needed cry for help when it earmarked more
than $1 million in new funding to establish and expand drug courts across
the state. The money will allow nearly 400 more Oklahomans with
drug-related arrests a chance to clean up their lives instead of ending up
in the prison system where state Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan, says only
minimal help is available for those with addictions.

Drug courts will be added in five new counties: Garfield, Stephens, Grady,
Carter and Okmulgee. With the exception of Okmulgee County, those counties
new to the drug court system took in at least 50 prisoners with
drug-related offenses last year.

Existing programs in Oklahoma, Tulsa and Comanche counties will expand. The
Oklahoma County drug court will see its intake ability more than double,
from 130 treatment slots to 280. That will give Oklahoma County which takes
in the largest number of drug-related prisoners the same number of slots as
Tulsa's program.

A report released earlier this year encouraged the establishment of more
drug courts as a way to help nonviolent drug convicts, particularly women.
Overall, recidivism rates are lower for those who successfully complete
drug court programs.

Typically, drug court participants are first-time offenders who must obtain
a high school education, get a job or be in school and pass periodic drug
tests to graduate. In exchange, their sentences typically are delayed or
deferred. They also may be subject to other conditions.

Drug courts make for a cheaper alternative to prison, and that's good news
for a corrections system that's already overburdened. The best news,
though, is that it gives a second chant to those who are committed to
kicking an addiction and turning their lives around.