New Approach On Drugs

Many supporters of minimalist government might have a
decidedly mixed reaction to the growing trend of establishing
"drug courts" that provide a form of intensive probation,
rather than incarceration,for certain people convicted of
drug possession.

Two such courts operate in Orange County, one at the muni
cipal court in South County, and one attached to the Superior
Court in Santa Ana. The latter this week was designated for a
federal grant of nearly $400,000 to allow it to increase the
number of offenders who can participate.

Currently, about 100 people are in the program. The next "
graduation" ceremony will be in late August, when around eight
people will be recognized for completing the drugrehab require
ments and going straight. Of the 20 graduates in total since the
court started in 1995, none has been rearrested for drug posses
sion, Superior Court Judge David T. McEachen, who has presided
over the court since its outset, told us on Tuesday.

He contrasts that promising result with the 80 percent recidivism
rate that is typical in the county and nationwide for drug offen
ders steered the traditional directionto jail.

The "drug court" alternative of very intensive monitoring by pro
bation officers and tough rehabilitation program requirements isn't
for every offender, maybe even not for most, said Judge McEachen.One
has to really want to break the habit, and to put up with the in
trusive requirements, such as drug testing several times a week,Nar
cotics Anonymous meetings and frequent check ins with probation offic
ials, for a sentence that can last from a few weeks to many months,
depending on the particulars of the offender.

But the program is something that could work for more people than
have been able to take advantage of it so far, the judge is confident.
So he is glad about the federal money. And he would like to see more
funding from the county as well. He says that the cost of the program
runs no more than $2,000 per offender annually. He contrasts that with
the $20,000 to $25,000, on an annualized basis, that he says the county
spends to incarcerate someone.

For those of us who oppose wasting jail space on nonviolent offenders.
there is indeed a large positive side to a program such as this that off
ers an alternativeand a strong case for shifting some money from the
jails budget to the drugcourt budget (not least to lessen the judges'
urge to take money from the feds,who shouldn't be in the business of
funding local lawenforcement efforts).

But our qualms still nag. The idea of the governmentcounty, state or
federal acting as an enforced therapist for people with drug addictions,
or any other kind of dependency,is hard to square with the notions of a
strictly limited public sector that guided the American founding fathers.

However, until the merits of the case for decriminalization of mere
possession are accepted more widely, the argument for an alternative to
traditional lockup is powerful.Orange County's alternative, for the rel
atively small group of offenders who have experienced it so far,seems to
be working.