PENCE PROMISES TO EMPHASIZE TREATMENT INSTEAD OF PUNISHMENT

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who doubles as Gov. Ernie Fletcher's justice
secretary, wants to emphasize drug treatment instead of continuing to
imprison more and more people for non-violent, drug-related crimes. While we
applaud that approach as being long overdue, the downside of Pence's plan --
at least for this job-poor region -- is that it could delay the opening of a
1,000-bed prison in Elliott County.

We agree with Pence -- a former U.S. Attorney for Western Kentucky -- that
Kentucky has too many nonviolent offenders who should be receiving treatment
for drug problems rather than being behind bars. That is a message people
like Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson has been preaching for 25 years,
but it rarely has been put into practice.

Pence says his goal is to dramatically reduce the number of nonviolent
offenders in prison -- so much so that the new Elliott County prison,
scheduled to open this summer and currently taking job applications, may not
be necessary.

Pence says he wants to expand drug courts across the state. That's an
excellent idea. Drug courts give first-time offenders the chance to avoid
prison time if they undergo treatment for their drug problems and do not
test positive for drug use. That's a carrot-and-stick approach that's been
effective in helping addicts across the state overcome their drug problems.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of Kentuckians with drug and alcohol
problems receive treatment. The Kentucky Health and Family Services Cabinet
estimates that 348,000 people have drug or alcohol problems; last year,
22,000 received substance-abuse treatment. The state spends about $20
million a year, most of it federal money, on treatment and prevention.

If Pence's idea is to be effective, the state will have to redirect much of
the money it now spends on housing nonviolent offenders to drug treatment
programs. Surely, it would be less costly, in both the short and long run,
to help an addict become drug free than to house that person in prison for a
year or longer. Instead of just punishing offenders, Pence wants to get at
the root cause of their crimes, which often is illegal drug use.

Pence said he recognizes that the 300 jobs the Elliott County prison would
create are important to a county with one of the state's highest rates of
unemployment, but he added, "I don't think we can let that be our driving
force on our rate of incarceration. Somebody has to pay for this."

If the state does have more prison beds than it needs, it may make more
sense to close one of its older prisons rather than have a new $90-million
prison remain empty. The downside of that, of course, is that closing a
prison would eliminate hundreds of existing jobs. Still, it makes sense to
house prisoners in the most modern facilities.

State Rep. Rocky Adkins, the new House majority leader, said he is
disappointed by the news that the prison in his home county may not open on
time. He said he will use his influence, which is considerable, to see that
it does open.

The fate of the Elliott County prison not withstanding, we applaud Pence for
his progressive view on nonviolent prisoners with substance-abuse problems.
Like alcoholism, drug addiction is a disease. It is wiser to treat the
disease instead of punishing the crime.