NEW TACK ON DRUG CRIMES

In Barnstable's drug court, selected offenders will get the chance to trade
jail for treatment.

The "drug court" that starts operation in Barnstable District Court this
week is a noble experiment that has the potential to make real changes in
people's lives.

More a probation program than a separate court, drug courts direct selected
offenders to treatment and closely-supervised counseling rather than to jail.

There are some things the program won't do.

It is no miracle cure for pervasive drug use or drug-related misbehavior.
Rather, it is a recognition by those in the field that the standard
law-enforcement approach to chronic drug-related crime - a jail sentence -
has not been terribly effective at changing behavior.

"I see the same people coming through time and time again. Sending them to
jail just isn't the answer," says Barnstable District Court Judge Joseph
Reardon, whose hallmark as a judge has been a persistent belief that
something - fatherhood classes, a great-books program - can redeem the
troubled souls who stand before him.

In the drug court, which Reardon will direct, treatment and counseling will
get the emphasis, but success in those endeavors, too, is always measured
in small gains over long time frames.

Drug court won't, overnight, free up clogged court calendars, or make
anyone's job easier. Suspects will still be routed through the court
system; a guilty plea or finding is the necessary ticket to the program. As
a matter of fact, the supervision of drug court candidates will require
more work and a higher level of commitment by the court's probation
officers, who have agreed to take on the extra load.

Likewise, the Gosnold of Cape Cod alcohol and drug treatment center will
provide treatment at no cost for the first year of the program.

And rather than being an easy "out" for those convicted of low-level drug
crimes, the program of inpatient and outpatient treatment, formal weekly
assessments and random drug screenings may be seen by some offenders as
harder than a jail sentence. They may choose to do the jail time and keep
drugs in their life.

The fact that support for the drug court on Cape Cod is coming from law
enforcement and the courts is especially gratifying. Those who work in
those professions see the human toll daily; they are likely to have more
insight and motivation than the rest of us to put things right, when they
can. But the United States has been slower than other industrialized
nations to make a distinction between personal use of illegal drugs and
other types of criminality. Law enforcement is inherently conservative; no
one wants to appear "soft" on crime. It takes courage to break from the past.

Cape and Islands First Assistant District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, who
secured a $50,000 federal grant to train drug court staff, keeps his
expectations for the program conservative, too.

"We will of course track people for a number of years, but to my way of
thinking, if even 20 percent of the drug court participants turn their
lives around, this is a worthwhile effort," O'Keefe said.

The important thing is that the helping hand be there when an offender is
ready.