DRUG COURTS OFFER ADDICTS A JAIL-FREE OPTION

Experts In New Treatment Method Hold First Conference In Edmonton

EDMONTON - It's a relatively new approach to breaking the cycle of
addiction and prison, but proponents of drug-treatment courts are
confident they will continue to become more effective -- even when
faced with the huge problem of crystal meth.

About 500 law enforcement officials, lawyers, judges and academics
from Canada and the United States are gathering in Edmonton starting
today for the first conference of the Canadian Association of Drug
Treatment Courts.

The event is an attempt to improve this method of helping addicts stay
clean and out of prison.

Drug courts are a relatively new phenomenon in Canada, starting in
1998 in Toronto, but they are now established in six cities including
Edmonton, which has had a full-time drug court for nearly a year.

The concept involves giving addicted people with a long, non-violent
criminal history a second chance to kick drugs and stay out of prison.

They have to plead guilty and they still have the crime added to their
record, but they're put under a strict regime of treatment and
supervision, including weekly meetings with provincial court Judge
Darlene Wong, either in person or by telephone.

"It's called therapeutic jurisprudence," said Wong, who presides over
Edmonton's drug court and is the planning chair for the conference.

"The concept is that warehousing

people doesn't generally solve anything, but if there can be
intervention and the right resources, then many changes can be made in
a person's life to keep them from criminal behaviour. But it's not an
easy step."

It's not a "get-out-of-jail-free card," she said. In fact, some people
find it easier to do the jail time than fulfil the conditions of drug
court.

Wong said it's too early to conclude how effective the Edmonton
program has been because people are still going through the program,
but overall in Canada the recidivism rate has been just over 11 per
cent.

The program has received millions in funding from the federal Justice
and Health departments, as well as provincial support, but the cost is
a small fraction of keeping someone in prison.

Like other judges, Wong has dealt with many criminals whose misdeeds
have been related to crystal meth.

She said the fact that it is so addictive and cheap makes it a
difficult trap to escape.

But Wong said there is hope for these people, and she has noticed how
their appearance improves once they get clean.

Allan Vonkeman, a retired Edmonton police officer who headed the
crystal meth task force and will speak at the conference on the effect
of methamphetamine on families and communities, said a team effort is
required to help addicts escape the trap of drugs and crime.

"There has to be a consequence to your actions, but at the same time
does it make sense that I keep arresting somebody for 25 years in my
career?

"Or does it make more sense that I work with that person and maybe in
three years I can get them clean and behaving like a normal person?"

A successful transformation can have long-term consequences, said
Vonkeman, who came across cases where there were three generations of
addicts in the same family.