STATE SHOULD EXPAND USE OF DRUG COURTS

Drug courts, which are being tried in several regions of Mississippi,
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.

More evidence of that belief comes from Shelby County, Tenn., which began
experimenting with the drug-court concept in 1997 and expanded it to a
full-time operation in 2000. The court costs $750,000 a year for 300
offenders and is run on government grants and drug-seizure money. The
$2,500 to treat each offender annually seems high but is cheaper than
incarceration. In addition to a full-time judge, the court's staff includes
a prosecutor, public defender and counselors who track offenders hoping to
kick their habit in exchange for a clean record.

Some 323 offenders have graduated from the program, which includes therapy
and 12-step meetings. If participants lack a high school equivalency
diploma, they must get one. They must also find work, stay out of trouble
and, most significantly, pass frequent drug tests.

Offenders know that if they slip up, they're headed to jail and the
traditional penal system. Some indeed fail, but not because hard-nosed
prosecutor Bryan Davis isn't pulling for them.

"It's one of the few times in government where you're trying to help people
first and punish them second," said the 43-year-old Harvard graduate.