DRUG COURTS A GOOD CONCEPT

Drug courts, which are being tried in a few regions of Mississippi,
including the Pike County area, should be established statewide. The
concept, which stresses rehabilitation over incarceration, is sound
policy, both socially and fiscally.

For violent criminals, imprisonment is clearly the appropriate
penalty. For drug users, however, incarceration is a poor use of tax
dollars and inconducive to the goal of rehabilitation.

Local Circuit Judge Keith Starrett, who operates a drug court in
Pike, Lincoln and Walthall Counties, testified on the subject before
a legislative committee in Jackson last week.

He said the Mississippi is making a mistake by not implementing a
drug court for first time offenders throughout the state.

Starrett estimates his drug court - where first time offenders
receive treatment and drug testing instead of incarceration, has
saved the state $1 million since it started about three years ago.

Offenders know that if they slip up, they're headed to jail and the
traditional penal system. Some indeed fail, but the same can be more
often said of those who are incarcerated.