DRUG TREATMENT NEEDS ACCOUNTABILITY

Americans are compassionate people. From the very creation of our country,
our founders were clear that we are a nation committed to helping people
live productive, creative, free lives. Our Declaration of Independence sets
that out: Americans are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. When we see someone with a tragic drug addiction, someone whose
life and liberty have been forfeited to the enslavement of a drug
addiction, our instincts are to help. We rightly want to help them heal,
help them get their lives back on track.

A movement is under way in Ohio that falsely promises that solution. The
pending ballot initiative, called simply the Ohio Drug Treatment
Initiative, is often referred to as a treatment-over-jail solution. It
would get nonviolent drug addicts into treatment programs and out of jails.
It sounds great. And the idea is great. But there's one important truth
that this initiative misses. And that is treatment works best when addicts
are held accountable for their recovery by the criminal-justice system. The
ballot initiative would rob judges of their power to get addicts help.

Treatment alone too often becomes a revolving door of addiction. Drug
addiction is an awesomely powerful force that frequently is too great for
addicts to overcome on their own. They need help. Anyone who has followed
the up-and-down careers of such former superstars as Darryl Strawberry and
Robert Downey Jr., knows that a little tough love might have been the
compassionate course of action. Which is just what the innovative idea of
drug courts offers: compassion with accountability.

Drug courts offer treatment over jail, but they also hold those who are
getting rehabilitation accountable. It's a relatively new idea, and one
Ohio has embraced. Today, 50 drug courts in Ohio help those in the throes
of addiction recover. For good, not for 90 days. First-time, nontrafficking
drug offenders who are arrested for nonviolent crimes can enter drug courts
and recover their lives.

When addicts walk through the door of a drug court, they enter a
comprehensive 1- year rehabilitation program. They get intensive
counseling, finish their education, get job training and reconcile with
their families. This takes place under the strict monitoring of a
drug-court judge and team of case workers who are there to help. It is a
realistic program that knows and accepts relapse as part of recovery.

But this compassion should not be confused with leniency. Drug-court
programs are tough, and sanctions are critical to their success.
Participants are subject to frequent drug tests and meet weekly with the
judge. Expectations and requirements are clear from day one. Jail time
becomes a reality if relapse reverts to repeated abuse. This is the
motivation addicts need. They know they will be held accountable for their
recovery.

And recovery is what is happening all over Ohio in drug courts. I attended
a graduation ceremony at a drug court in Youngstown last fall. I met a
young graduate there who I'll never forget. She was college-educated with a
top job in sales when a crack cocaine addiction sent her into a downward
spiral. Her employer sent her to several rehab programs, but the voluntary
treatment didn't cure her addition. Neither did two nearly fatal overdoses.

Eventually, she was arrested for breaking-and-entering. She was fortunate
enough to end up in a drug court. The tough 1-year program succeeded in
breaking her addiction. The judge and his team became her counselors,
friends, mentors, disciplinarians, and surrogate parents. With their tough
love, she broke her addiction. I was there when she tearfully received her
diploma at graduation and hugged the judge and the arresting officer.
"Thank you for saving my life," she said simply.

The ballot initiative in Ohio rests on a false dichotomy. It says: either
you're for treatment or you're for enforcement, but you can't be for both.
Drug courts say, yes, you can. The partnership of accountability and
compassion is a winning combination.

The initiative would remove the critical court oversight and
accountability. It would undo the success of drug courts. If you really
want to help drug addicts heal, stand behind drug courts. Support their
growth in Ohio. Reject the ballot initiative.