DO DRUG COURTS WORK? MORE STUDY IS NEEDED

In 1997, Marty Ann Young was the optimistic first graduate of Utah's
pilot drug court. "I want to cry every time I think about how I was,"
the 36-year-old told The Salt Lake Tribune, describing a cocaine
addiction that led her to drop out of nursing school, give up custody
of her four children and serve stints in jail. Today, Young is being
sought on two warrants for drug-related charges. Her story
illustrates what judges do and do not know. There are no long-term
studies on whether, or which, drug-court graduates stay off drugs and
out of trouble.

The most recent study of short-term recidivism was done by the
University of Utah's College of Social Work. Graduates from Salt Lake
County's drug court in 2005 were tracked for a year and compared with
defendants not in drug court. Among the findings: * 19.7 percent of
graduates had a new arrest, compared with 29.8 percent of the
comparison group. * Of participants who failed drug court, 46.5
percent had a new arrest. Professor Russel Van Vleet, the study's
director, said it indicates drug court is working, but adds:
"Recidivism isn't particularly useful unless it's been over a period
of time. If you can track people for at least three years, you can
make a good statement." Officials are developing guidelines
describing which drug Advertisementcourt practices work best. "We
need to be able to say what we have learned from these 10 or 11 years
of drug courts," said Rick Schwermer, Utah's point person on drug courts.