They tell us that drug addiction is an illness.

If it is an illness, why do we incarcerate the most serious of folks with this illness.

 We are glad to say that the Rockdale Adult Drug Court, through a grant given by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, is trying out a new program which aims to keeping offenders with drug abuse problems out of prison by providing structure and support to lead to rehabilitation.

We commend Judge David Irwin and Judge Robert Mumford and their staffs for their efforts in trying this new approach.

As in any illness, attitude goes a long way in helping with a cure. When you have folks trying to help, there needs to be a 100 percent effort of the parties involved to want that help.

We hope this program works for the sake of those who truly have fallen into the trap of drug dependency and who recognize that they are stuck in a vicious cycle, but wish to have a pathway to get out of their dependency and start their lives anew.