
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993                   TAG: 9306180405
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

JAILS DEAL ONLY WITH SYMPTOMS

I READ the June 9 news story by David Poole ("Sheriff details jail proposal"). I was convicted of shoplifting and sentenced to 22 years, so I have firsthand experience of what overcrowding in our city jail is like, and why.

The answer to our problem is not new administration buildings, three-step $5.7 million plans, triple-bunking or $438,000 federal inmate housing but rehabilitation.

I've been a heroin addict most of my adult life and have been incarcerated before. The majority of criminal offenses are related to some type of addiction, so by incarceration we are treating the symptoms and not the disease. The answers to addiction are not available in our jails and prisons.

From past experiences, we should have learned that "estimated growth" is just that, estimation and not reality. The reality is repeat offenders and parole violators with an addiction. Until it is treated and the flow of returns stopped, "estimated growth" will never be reality and the need for more jail space will continue to rise. LEWIS KINGERY ROANOKE CITY JAIL

by CNB