In a conversation with Gazette editors last week, Democrats David L. Hill, Rosalee Juba-Plumley and J. Robert Leslie Jr. and Republicans Edward Eagloski and Joseph K. "Joe" Reeder said alternative sentencing and rehabilitation programs need to be examined to control a rising number of drug-related crimes.

Reeder, a Hurricane attorney, said he would be interested in introducing an adult drug court to Putnam. Other candidates agreed and said they would also continue to support the county's juvenile drug program.

"We're seeing young people's lives thrown away with felony drug convictions," Reeder said.

Kids and young adults need incentives to stay off drugs and jail isn't always the answer, said Hill, a Hurricane attorney.

"Stopping drug use would stop a lot of crime," Hill said.

Juba-Plumley, a Poca attorney, said she has dealt with a number of court-appointed drug cases, and said Putnam, like everywhere else, has a lot of drug abusers.

"They're richer kids, but they still do the same drugs," she said.

Kanawha County offers an adult drug court but only for those with felony charges, she said. Once someone already has a felony conviction, options to rebuild their life are slim.

"It's a vicious cycle," she said. "We need to quit building prisons and build treatment facilities."

Leslie, a Hurricane attorney, said to protect the public, the likelihood of a drug user re-offending needs to be evaluated.

"It's great to sit back and say they need treatment but you have to look at that person's threat level to society," Leslie said.

For example, methamphetamine users are dangerous and don't show much hope for rehabilitation, he said.

Eagloski, a former Putnam circuit judge who was defeated by Judge Phillip Stowers in the 2008 election, said drug addictions needed to be treated as diseases.

"It's not being soft, it's recognizing what needs to be done," he said.

Also during the discussion, Leslie said he'd be interested in bringing a Kanawha County mediation program to Putnam that allows even the smallest civil disputes to get help from volunteer mediators.

"Litigants now have to pay for a mediator," he said.

Reeder agreed that the mediation program would also be "very worthwhile, especially in smaller cases."

All of the candidates said they'd support maintaining the county's truancy program, and everyone thought the county needs an additional family court judge to handle a large caseload.