BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Kenton County begins an experiment this week that officials hope will result in fewer repeat drug users.
Wednesday at noon, a group of people charged with drug abuse or possession of drugs will gather in Kenton Circuit Judge Greg Bartlett's courtroom for the first-ever session of Kenton County's drug court.
Defendants who qualify for the new program -- no drug sellers or people with histories of violence are allowed -- will get a chance at treatment instead of jail. The idea is to let the court system reach out to people who have been arrested more than once for using drugs and direct them into help rather than into a cell.
Judge Bartlett has high hopes for the idea, which he said was prompted by his seeing the same drug addicts time after time.
"These people just keep coming through," he said. "There has to be something that will work better."
Drug-only docket
The court follows many others around the United States, including one in Cincinnati that, when it began just over two years ago, was the first in Ohio. The Kenton court will be at least the fourth drugs-only docket in the commonwealth, after similar programs in Lexington, Bowling Green and Louisville.
In exchange for a guilty plea, defendants in the program will go directly into court-monitored counseling. They also must submit to drug testing and keep jobs.
