A judge's message.

Byline: The Register-Guard

It might have raised some eyebrows if Lane County Circuit Court Judge Lyle Velure had stopped the trial of Zachariah Keith Wells on Tuesday to proclaim his support for Measure 20-114, the county's public safety tax measure that's on the Nov. 7 ballot.

There was no need for Velure to do anything of the kind. All the veteran judge had to do was point out the glaringly obvious - that society is better served by investing in education and drug prevention for young people rather than in prosecuting and incarcerating them later in life.

That's especially true in a county where more than 70 percent of juveniles on probation have alcohol or drug problems. Where more than 30 percent of juvenile offenders are using methamphetamine. Where the county's juvenile arrest rates for drug and property crimes are higher than the state or national rates.

Studies have established beyond any doubt that residential treatment programs play a major role in preventing youths from becoming chronic offenders. Yet that treatment option is increasingly unavailable in Lane County. Budget cuts have reduced the number of available county treatment slots for boys to eight from 16 - and eliminated them altogether for juvenile females.

That's a disgrace. It's also, as Velure pointed out, a ridiculously expensive way to fight drug crimes.

Wells, 28, was convicted, along with two other men, in the kidnapping and shooting of a 26-year-old man. During Wells' sentencing hearing, Velure inquired about the cost of the investigation and legal defense. Informed that Wells had started using drugs as a 12-year-old and that all eight of his prior felony convictions were related to drug use, Velure noted the obvious - that it's much cheaper to provide drug treatment and prevention services to young people than it is to prosecute and warehouse them in the criminal justice system as adults.

In addition to the tens of thousands of dollars that law enforcement authorities spent apprehending Wells in California for his most recent offense, Velure said taxpayers will end up paying more than $326,000 for Well's 13-year sentence.

"Methamphetamine is ruining a generation of young people," Velure said. "If you don't think it is, just come and sit in this courtroom for a while. I can't think of a more expensive way to address methamphetamine than what we are doing in this courtroom today."

Velure had the good judgment not to unfurl a "Vote for Measure 20-114" banner in the courtroom. He didn't have to. The haunted face of Zachariah Keith Wells said it all. So does the bill that taxpayers will have to pay to keep Wells behind bars for the next 13 years.

If Measure 20-114 is approved by voters, it would provide $23 million in new public safety services. That includes $2 million for juvenile drug and alcohol treatment, $1.6 million for expanded programs to serve children, families and youth at risk of committing future crimes, $4 million to build a Child Advocacy Center for children victimized by crime, and $3.6 million to admit an additional 700 juvenile offenders annually into secure residential treatment.

Velure is right. It's hard to imagine a more expensive or ineffective way to address methamphetamine and other drugs than what Lane County is doing today.

Measure 20-114 gives voters a chance to change this dangerously dysfunctional and costly system.