IN PRISON, ABUSERS BURDEN TAXPAYERS

I am writing to applaud your March 24 article "Prison not the answer to
addiction" and to express my strong support for the drug court model of
community intervention for substance abusers who enter the criminal justice
system.

Every year more than 13,000 individuals come to the Missouri Department of
Corrections and between 70 and 80 percent of them have significant
substance abuse problems. It has long been known in the field of
corrections that substance abuse is the critical factor driving the largest
prison population growth in the nation's history.

Judge Calvin Holden and other innovating judges have recognized firsthand
the toll that substance abuse has taken across Missouri communities. They
are to be commended for taking bold steps to deal with the problem of
substance abuse at the point where therapeutic interventions can be most
effective, i.e., close to home, where the offender can receive treatment
and continue to work and support their families and loved ones. Most of
all, the drug courts in Missouri have a successful record of keeping
offenders off the prison rolls, where they are a burden to the taxpayer,
and on the work rolls, where they are taxpayers.

Gary B. Kempker, director, Missouri Department of Corrections