DRUG COURT

District Attorney Joe Hubbard has been around the block a couple of times
in his 25 years as a prosecutor. If there is anyone around here qualified
to give us some pointers on how to improve the criminal justice system, it
is Hubbard. So when he pitches an idea, like he did Thursday night, we all
should take note.

Hubbard, along with a number of other court officials including Circuit
Judge Joel Laird and Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson are pushing the
county commission for $83,000 to start a drug court in the county. Hubbard
has told the commission that the court would run itself after the initial
cash infusion.

The district attorney put it pretty straight to the commissioners when he
said that locking up offenders for possession without providing for
treatment "is just not working." What we need, Hubbard and the others said,
is a court that will deal with non-violent drug offenders in a way that
will rehabilitate them. Otherwise we will simply make the problem a lot
bigger over time.

With a prison population already bulging at the seams and the fact that 80
percent of federal, state and local inmates are in jail for drug offenses,
his comments make a lot of sense.

Hubbard and the others are not talking about going easy on crime. Anyone
convicted of a violent crime will continue to be dealt with in the usual
way. This is about non-violent, usually first-time offenders.

The idea is to put qualified offenders through an 18-month judge-supervised
program that will aim to treat them for drug addiction, rehabilitate them
and turn them into productive members of society. If the offender
successfully completes the program then he could have the violation expunged.

This is forward thinking stuff, but it isn't new, even in Alabama. Other
counties, including DeKalb, Jefferson and Mobile, have successfully
implemented the programs.

The statistics, along with common sense, argue strongly for a drug court in
Calhoun County. One study found that 85 percent of drug-abusing offenders
who go without treatment go back to using drugs within a year of their
release and 95 percent go back after three years.

The commission members see the wisdom in Hubbard, Laird and Amerson's
argument and seem to want very much to fund the program. As Commissioner
Eli Henderson put it, "if we don't do any other thing, we'll make that happen."

Good for him and the commission. With their help, soon Calhoun County could
have a drug court, a dwindling jail population and a slew of rehabilitated
drug users.