COURT GETTING ADDICTS BACK ON TRACK, SAYS REPORT

NSW Drug Court participants enjoy better health, are more socially capable
and show clear evidence of having reduced or eliminated their drug use four
months after entering the program, a new report has shown.

The first study of Drug Court near "graduates", conducted by the Bureau of
Crime Statistics and Research, provides an optimistic prognosis of the
US-style experiment.

And while there was a high termination rate - only 55 per cent of the 202
participants could be reinterviewed four months into the program - on every
comparison of physical well-being and mental health, those who stayed with
the Drug Court program had shown measurable improvements.

The director of the bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn, said the early results were
very encouraging.

"You've got to remember that this is a group of people with long criminal
records, big drug habits and a history of not responding to other
court-imposed sanctions," Dr Weatherburn said.

"There is good news, there is hope of improvement ... on every index they
started well below the population norms and at the four-month mark they
were all showing improvement ...

"It is quite unrealistic to expect all these people to suddenly turn into
law-abiding, healthy and responsible citizens. The improvements we are
seeing are much better than might reasonably have been expected in the
circumstances."

. The first interviews were held while the subject was in cells awaiting a
court appearance. The detailed follow-ups included the SF-36 - a
questionnaire which measures health and well-being, social functioning and
role limitations due to emotional function.

The surveys also used the Opiate Treatment Index - an Australian instrument
developed to measure the outcomes of people under treatment for opiate use
- - along with social functioning scales. Weekly income and spending
questionnaires and a survey of offenders' personal satisfaction with the
program were also included.

The results reveal:

Drug Court participants start the program in very poor health compared with
the general population, but in significantly better state of health than
heroin users who voluntarily had entered a methadone maintenance program.
This would suggest that people forced into treatment by the court had not
yet reached the physical and emotional lows of those who sought voluntary
treatment.

At the four-month interview, participants were scoring inside the normal
range or higher on measures relating to physical health but remained
impaired on several indicators related to emotional well-being.

Weekly legal income and spending stayed the same ($165 and $162). But over
the four-month period. median weekly spending fell from $1,000 per week at
the baseline interview to $180, suggesting that illicit drug use also fell.

More than 80 per cent ofrespondents said they were satisfied or very
satisfied with treatment and support in the program.

The report stressed that it was "doubtful" that people who have entered
jail with drug addictions would "experience such significant improvements
over a range of well-being dimensions as was experienced by the Drug Court
participants".

NSW EXPERIMENT

The NSW Drug Court, based on the US model of legally coerced treatment,
began as a two-year pilot in February 1999 and was designed to target heavy
drug users who were already well entrenched in the criminal justice system.

Offenders are convicted and an initial sentence is suspended while the
offender undergoes treatment.

A final sentence is imposed depending on success, compliance, etc.

Treatment options over a 12-month period, include methadone, naltrexone and
abstinence-based treatments and support with social and living skills.

Levels of supervision and demands decrease with successive promotion
through phases.

Breaches can be punished with demotion, termination or up to 14 days'
imprisonment for a single transgression.