SUSTAIN ADULT DRUG COURT

The Charleston County Adult Drug Court has achieved impressive results
since its creation in July 1999. If the looming expiration of federal
funding for the court is not followed by another federal grant, a
combination of state, county and private funding should be crafted to
prevent this positive innovation's demise. As Herb Frazier reported Sunday,
the initial federal grant that started the county's Adult Drug Court runs
out at the end of this month.

Though the court's fine record makes it a strong candidate to secure a
second two-year federal grant of $300,000, the competition for that money
will be intense: Congress has approved only half of the more than $100
million now being sought by more than 270 drug courts around the nation.
And though continued federal funding would be welcome, the concept behind
these grants is to "start up" a pilot project that ultimately can sustain
itself without federal funds.

Theoretically, once a program is proven, it will attract the necessary
state or local funding. Certainly the Charleston County Adult Drug Court
has proven itself by turning around the lives of many would-be career drug
convicts.

Under the direction of Probate Judge Irvin Condon and Associate Probate
Judge Tamara Curry, the court imposes alternative punishments designed to
maximize the chances of transforming drug offenders into ex-drug offenders
- - and productive citizens.

When a defendant pleads guilty to drug charges in Drug Court, his prison
sentence is set aside - but only as long as he stays with the "program" by
working a job, stays off drugs and follows other rules handed down by the
judge, including mandatory drug testing, counseling and appearances at
weekly drug-court sessions. "Graduating" from the program can take more
than a year - and forces an offender to accept a degree of discipline that
paves the way toward a better future.

The win-win outcomes, for the offender and society, when this system works:
one less convict in jail, one less person selling and/or using illegal
drugs, one more person working for a living and paying taxes.

Surely getting people off drugs for good beats locking them up periodically
for the rest of their criminally wasted lives. This court is accomplishing
this goal with only three paid employees.

Most of its budget goes to drug counseling - and much of its success is
thanks to the efforts of 10 volunteers from the offices of the solicitor
and the public defender. The Charleston County Adult Drug Court clearly is
a productive investment. And if that next federal grant falls through,
public and private funding closer to home must be generated to perpetuate
this worthy initiative.