Tracknum: 184761015701678 Pubdate: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 Source: Clarksdale Press Register (MS) Copyright: 2002, Clarksdale Press Register Contact: http://www.pressregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1656 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) 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.