NEXT DRUG COURT CLASS READY TO GRADUATE

When the first person graduated from this tough school, a courtroom full of
his classmates cheered wildly.

Many of them now have also successfully completed a drug court regimen that
includes counseling sessions, therapy, court attendance and frequent drug
tests to make sure they're clean.

Since the first graduate in December 2000, two dozen people have
successfully passed through the program under the sometimes stern guidance
of Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Thorpe, usually two or
three per month.

At 5 p.m. today, Thorpe expects 16 men and women to receive his fatherly
blessing and graduate. It's by far the largest single graduation class of a
program that takes from 12 to 18 months to complete.

Instead of prison or jail, those who make it through the drug treatment
court have felony charges dismissed and get a second chance to become
worthwhile citizens.

It's a lot of effort expended by the addicts and those shepherding them
from the world of drugs back into society.

Is it worth it?

"It's overwhelmingly worthwhile," Thorpe said.

Of the two dozen he's seen go through his program, he knows of only two who
have had new drug offenses. Nationally, addicts once jailed by the justice
system are far more likely than not to reoffend after doing their time,
Thorpe said. The statistics vary between 70 percent and 90 percent who have
new contacts with the law for drug use, he said.

Therefore, an intense program such as this -- dubbed Choosing Healthy
Alternatives, Recovery and Treatment, or CHART -- are valuable in human
terms as well as in saving money for the community in the long run, Thorpe
said.

The judge has invited all previous graduates for this afternoon's
celebration in the Ginni Stevens Hearing Room in the Snohomish County
Administration Building. The scheduled speaker is state Rep. John Lovick,
D-Mill Creek.

One will be a woman who is now in school studying to become a massage
therapist. She told Thorpe via e-mail that since graduation life has been
"great."

"These are people who otherwise would be unproductive at the least and
harmful to society at the worst," Thorpe said.

Not only do individuals get a second chance to produce something in the
world and feel good about themselves, but not having to prosecute them
repeatedly also saves the rest of us money, he said.

It costs about as much to run someone through the program as to jail them.
If they continue to be drug free, "that chunk of money is spent only once,"
Thorpe said.

The drug court program started in Florida in 1989 and spread through the
country. Thorpe went through some training and started presiding over
weekly drug court sessions in October 1999.

The participants may be drug addicts, but they're not dealers and have not
committed violent or sex crimes, Thorpe said. Some are required to go into
residential drug treatment programs before being accepted into drug court.

Along the way the judge hands out discipline if the participants slip or
don't show up for 12-step meetings. Punishments range from community
service to a few days in jail.

Thorpe said he plans to continue monitoring drug court.

"I love it," he said. "It's the most worthwhile thing I've done in my
professional life."