CUTS TO DRUG PROGRAMS WILL COST IN LONG RUN

Drug abusers, young or old, don't evoke much sympathy from the public.
Their advocates are few, not as vocal or powerful as those for people with
mental illnesses or mental retardation.

Perhaps that explains why programs that give drug offenders an opportunity
to improve their lives face an uncertain future. Such services were easy
targets as state lawmakers looked for ways to close a $3.8 billion budget
shortfall.

Without the state's support, programs such as the Newport News adult drug
court, in its third year, won't survive a $308,000 cut. It's one of 13
operating drug courts in the state.

Nine other localities, including Hampton, that want to start drug court
programs won't get a chance at landing federal grants without the state's
financial backing.

Drug courts combine substance-abuse treatment, strict monitoring, rewards
and sanctions for participants, who have been charged with drug-related
offenses. The goal is to reduce repeat offenses and crime.

But the state cuts target more than drug courts. They also zero out funds
for a substance abuse treatment and prevention program called SABRE.

Starting in June, the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board will
lose about $300,000 a year from the state. The funding helps adults on
probation or parole and juveniles under court supervision. Each year,
nearly 1,000 youths and adults in Newport News and Hampton alone receive
counseling and treatment services through the program.

For the youngest offenders, some teetering on the edge of addiction, these
programs offer support and guidance, a chance to get back on track before
it's too late.

Fighting addiction is an uphill battle. If drug abusers have a tough road
ahead of them now, cutting backbone funding for essential programs
practically guarantees them failure.

Why should anyone care? Because, sympathy aside, these rehabilitation
programs make sense financially.

Take adult drug court. One participant costs the state about $4,000 a year.
Compare that with the annual price tag of a jail cell: about $22,000.

But the benefits go beyond dollar savings. Drug court participants are
required to do more than "stay clean and off drugs." Under strict
monitoring and regular drug screening, they must earn high school
equivalency certificates, get jobs, open savings accounts, attend therapy
and face responsibilities such as paying for child support and court fines.
In other words, they have to get their lives in order.

Most inmates in jails won't do that.

After a year, drug court participants are less likely to continue a life of
crime. For jail inmates, the opposite is true. They're likely to commit
more crimes and wind up back in jail sooner or later. And the root problem,
drug addiction, remains.

In trying to solve Virginia's financial crisis, legislators are making
tough choices. This choice, unfortunately, will hamper the ability of
communities across the state to confront a major problem, one that if left
to fester will only cause more problems in the future, problems that are
more expensive and harder to solve.

As Gov. Mark Warner weighs which state cuts to restore and as legislators
prepare to reconvene for the veto session, drug courts and SABRE should be
near the top of the list of candidates for rescue. It's pay now or pay later.