Saskatchewan's First Drug Court Should Open Sometime This Fall

Saskatchewan's first drug court is expected to open this fall amid
renewed calls by the Canadian Association of Police Boards for the
federal government to expand the number of drug treatment courts nationwide.

The Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region is expecting its first intake of
clients -- offenders referred by the drug courts for treatment -- at
the end of September or early October, said region spokesman Mark Torjusen.

"However, that is dependent on the courts," Torjusen said, explaining
Saskatchewan Justice is responsible for setting up the court and
determining which offenders are suitable candidates for the treatment
program.

Sask. Justice will be making an announcement on the province's first
drug courts this fall, communications officer Andrew Dinsmore said.

The association of police boards earlier this month passed a
resolution calling on Ottawa to increase the number of drug treatment
courts and provide more federal health dollars for treatment programs
and additional drug detoxification centre beds.

"We definitely need the treatment facilities in place first before the
drug courts can open their doors," said Jim Stiglitz, Prince Albert's
mayor and the chairman of its board of police commissioners.

The government is aware of the growing drug problem in Canada, he
said, explaining the association wants to ensure the national drug
strategy moves forward so that all police forces are on the same page
when it comes to drug enforcement.

"We would like to see drug courts set up in major cities like
Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Regina where street drugs are so
prevalent," Stiglitz said, adding that Prince Albert has seen a
definite increase in the use and trafficking of crystal meth and
cocaine in the past couple of years.

"Our arrests on hard drugs have risen dramatically so we are working
at that as hard as we can. But we still need to work with the courts
more because we still believe the sentences do not reflect the crimes
in many cases."

Stiglitz said with the high number of young people addicted to crystal
meth more needs to be done to educate young people about the dangers
of illicit drugs and to provide treatment programs.

The association passed a number of other resolutions aimed at
protecting police officers across the country and helping them to do
their job. Among the resolutions was a call for legislation requiring
e-commerce service providers, financial institutions and data managers
to disclose incidents in which personal and financial information of
individuals or businesses is compromised for criminal or other
purposes and a call for the establishment of a mechanism to support
and co-ordinate Canadian efforts at fighting cyber crime.

Police boards are also looking for federal and provincial assistance
in developing police training programs to assist officers on the
street in recognizing and dealing with mental health patients, and
more funding to support police departments which are experiencing
increasing caseloads relating to drug and gang activity.