Treatment Vs. Jail

Not one of the 16 defendants arrested in last November's well-publicized police raid in East Hampton and Montauk had his or her case heard in the special drug court that metes out punishment in the form of supervised treatment instead of jail time. Each stood accused of selling drugs, which, as far as the County District Attorney goes, made them ineligible. That is an odd policy, given that the five drug courts now operating around the state were created to provide treatment, testing, and support services for all but violent offenders.

Knowing that addiction is the impetus for most crime, leading jurists promoted the concept of a court program designed to break the link between addiction and criminal acts. And, because the percentage of female drug defendants was growing, they created a program that addresses the special problems of these offenders. Five of the 16 arrested in the East Hampton Town raid were women.

Of the 16, 15 have pleaded guilty and six have received sentences ranging from four months in county jail to three to nine years in prison. One case is pending and the rest await sentencing.

Town police and Federal Drug Enforcement Agency officers said they had videotapes of each defendant selling cocaine, which seems to have sealed their fates. Police said each was offered a reduced sentence for becoming an informant. Defense lawyers said no one was recommended for a treatment program, though most were small-time dealers with big-time habits who had never been arrested before. Only one had been convicted previously of a felony.

The Rand Drug Policy Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank in California, released a study last week that found treatment is far more effective, socially and economically, in reducing drug-related crime than tough jail sentences. The study said "longer sentences for typical drug dealers appear cost-effective only to the highly myopic." It also is the case that only the highly myopic see prison as an answer to addiction.

Something is amiss when the District Attorney, whose recommendation can send a defendant to drug court or criminal court, in other words into treatment or to jail, makes the same determination for a teenaged addict as for a hard-core dealer.

Something also is amiss when East Hampton Town helps to subsidize an inpatient drug treatment facility with a good track record in its own backyard, while law enforcement officials ignore the possibility of treatment for those who might benefit most from it and instead pursue the harshest, and least effective, punishment.