PROGRAM CAN AID IN AREA'S WAR ON DRUGS

Adams County's judicial system takes a valuable step today with the
inaugural drug court, a program in its infancy designed to help
misdemeanor drug offenders avoid jail time but still face their problems.

Led by Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders and staffed for now by
volunteers, the drug court will move participants through a two-year
program to help get them rehabilitated and working. Participants will
have to meet regularly with a team that includes a treatment
coordinator, a defense attorney, a prosecutor and a probation officer.

Drug court organizers in Adams County -- which is one of only 12
counties with such a program -- got some good news earlier this month.
Gov. Haley Barbour signed a law that will grant money, through a
special assessment for fines on certain offenses, to drug courts
throughout the state.

We are glad to see the state paying attention to this valuable
program, which has been successful in other counties and in the youth
court here in Adams County.

Local drug court officials don't know yet how much money they will
receive from the assessments, but they are operating with $6,000 in
funding from the Board of Supervisors and with the hope of new grants
in the future.

This program can have an impact on the war on drugs waged by law
enforcement in Adams County and across the state. Participants in drug
court will be the misdemeanor offenders who get caught in a web of
addiction, not the major drug pushers who are feeding those addictions
and feeding the drug war.

We will be watching to see the impact the drug court can have over
time, and wish organizers and participants well as they begin the process.