WOMEN BENEFIT MORE FROM DRUG COURT

Women Benefit More From Drug Court Than Do Men in Oklahoma, According to
Statistics Unveiled Wednesday to a Task Force That Is Studying Oklahoma's
Female Inmate Population

A study by the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center shows the monthly
income of female drug court graduates jumps 130 percent, from $489.52 to
$1,128.54.

Male graduates' incomes rise 31 percent, although they enter drug court
with higher incomes than do women and have higher rates of employment. The
income of male graduates increases from $1,128.54 to $1,400.16.

The study showed women have a re-arrest rate of 14.2 percent within 36
months after they graduate from drug court. That compares with a re-arrest
rate of 21.4 percent for men.

The statistics, which covered drug court entries as of July 1, 2003, were
presented to a task force studying why Oklahoma leads the nation in the
number of women it sends to prison.

According to the study, 49.9 percent of women qualifying for drug court had
been charged with drug possession, compared with 35.3 percent for men.

There were big differences in the types of drugs that men and women drug
offenders used.

The top four drugs of choice for women were methamphetamine, 36.8 percent;
cocaine, 21.6 percent; marijuana, 16 percent and alcohol, 8.8 percent.

For men it was alcohol, 39.1 percent; methamphetamine, 20.4 percent;
marijuana, 20.1 percent and cocaine, 12.5 percent.

Some task force members suggested expanding the types of offenders accepted
by drug courts as a way of fighting the drug problem and cutting down on
the cost of imprisonment.

Sen. Dick Wilkerson, D-Atwood, task force vice chairman, cited the growing
problem of methamphetamine abuse.

Most drug courts currently do not accept offenders charged with
manufacturing or distributing a controlled dangerous substance, even in
small amounts to friends or relatives.

If everyone who could be charged for distribution were caught and locked
up, Wilkerson said, the state would have a prison population "way over
100,000."

"Maybe this one-size-fits-all justice is not as desirable as we once
thought," he said.

Judge Charles Hill, who presides over drug court in Oklahoma County, said
he could use more funding, citing long waiting lists for the court's services.

Hill, a veteran law officer before becoming a judge, said he favored
expanding the criteria for acceptance in drug court to take in offenders
who are able to buy larger quantities of drugs because of their economic
status.

But Hill opposed accepting manufacturers and serious drug dealers into drug
court.

"Where do you draw the line?" he asked. "We can't save everybody."