DRUG COURT: AN ALTERNATIVE IN OUR OPINION

Amid all the problems associated these days with the Alabama legal system -
overcrowded jails, the death penalty issue, the often bizarre workings of
the state's Supreme Court - it's refreshing indeed when a little
imagination gets thrown into the mix. That's what happened last week when
the Calhoun County Commission appropriated $83,000 for a special drug
court. The action came after commissioners heard appeals from Calhoun
County Circuit Judge Joel Laird and Calhoun County District Attorney Joe
Hubbard.

"All of us realize (drugs) are a problem we have not been able to solve by
locking a possessor up," Hubbard told The Star's Jason Landers. And how
right he is.

Talk of alternative sentencing has been a political hot potato in Alabama
in recent years, with even Gov. Don Siegelman jumping into the act to make
some preposterous hard-line claims. Yet if there is one realm of criminal
activity that deserves a look at alternative considerations, it is that of
drug possession.

The new court will offer offenders treatment through a program to be
closely monitored by judges. Those who stick it out and complete the
program drug-free will have the chance to get their charges dropped. Only
those charged with possession are eligible for the initial program, which
will come under the umbrella of the community corrections authority.

This is the sort of progressive thinking that we could use more of around
here. And it's reasonable. What's more it is a textbook example of how
judicial and governmental offices can work together for the common good.

No one wants the hardened or dangerous drug trafficker out on the streets
infecting our teen-agers, but automatically tossing a first-time drug
offender behind bars for extended jail time is not the answer either.
National studies have shown time and again that not only does the jail time
generally fail at rehabilitation, it often works to exacerbate the problem.

Chances are that not every person to be enlisted in this new program will
come out of it a model citizen. But even with a moderate success rate, the
new drug court will have paid for itself.

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