AS A SOCIETY, WE'VE TRIED THE "LOCK 'EM UP" APPROACH AND ALL WE'VE GOTTEN
FOR OUR TROUBLE IS A RECORD NUMBER OF PEOPLE LOCKED UP

Granted, locked up is exactly where most of those people need to be, but is
it where they need to have been?

Lawmakers, sociologists and editorial page pinheads often talk about taking
a front-end approach to criminal justice -- prevention instead of
detention. But too often it's just talk. That's not for a lack of desire,
but because preventing crime is a tougher job than catching criminals. It
also doesn't have the political appeal that "getting tough" has, especially
on the hustings.

Columbus' relatively new Drug Court, profiled so well Wednesday by staff
writer Jim Houston, is a promising approach to intervening with juvenile
delinquents before they graduate to more serious drug abuse and more
serious crime.

Judge Warner Kennon presides over the Drug Court, which hears cases of
young men and women who have landed there at least in part because of drug
problems.

To qualify for this court, as opposed to Juvenile Court, a defendant must
have at least one parent accompany him or her and all must agree to follow
through on the court's rulings, punishments and requirements.

The young defendants must agree to frequent drug tests and other
probationary supervision. The court will help the defendants, as must the
parents, but the defendants must prove to the court that they are leaving
drugs behind and moving forward with their education and/or a job (which
the court will help to arrange).

The court has seen a good deal of success. Of the 62 cases that have come
before the court, only two have been complete failures.

"We look at this as a second-chance program," said Moe Cooper, a case
coordinator and former Columbus Wardogs arena football player. "We give
them avenues to go down, instead of doing drugs -- a positive path in life."

Clichés -- like an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure -- get
to be clichés because they are true. Whether you're talking about medicine,
car maintenance, criminal justice or most anything in between, prevention
is cheaper than (and in most other ways also preferable to) later treatment.

Here's hoping the Drug Court is as successful as it seems it can be. If
it's half that successful, it'll be one of the most effective things we
have going.

- -- Michael Owen, for the editorial board