MAYOR PUSHES FOR SURREY DRUG COURT

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts will meet with Attorney-General Wally Oppal
to talk about the possibility of setting up a drug court in Surrey.

Watts, who has championed the establishment of a drug court in the
city for some time, has had informal talks with Oppal about drug
courts on a number of occasions.

Now, she says, she'll be sitting down with B.C.'s top lawman to have
"an in-depth conversation" about the issue.

"It's been an issue that I have supported and championed for some
time, and I think it's high time we had some serious talks with the
province and see how we can make it a reality," Watts told the Surrey
Now newspaper.

Drug-treatment courts are an alternative for non-violent drug
offenders who agree to participate in a court-monitored treatment
program. Participation is voluntary and those who sign up stay out of
jail.

Drug-treatment courts currently operate in several Canadian cities,
including Vancouver, and there are about 1,200 drug courts in the U.S.

Last week, the provincial government extended the operation of the
Vancouver drug court for another three years.

Dave MacIntyre, program manager of the Vancouver drug court, says the
fresh approach to breaking the cycle of addiction has been successful.

Of the 400 people who have taken the program, 68 are "graduates," a
figure MacIntyre calls significant given the program's onerous
demands -- to graduate, addicts must be clean and find a job and a
place to live.

The Vancouver drug court focuses on adults. Watts wants Surrey's
court to include teens because she believes fighting drug addiction
early is more effective than dealing with chronic drug addicts at an
older age.

She also sees the drug court as a proactive way of responding to the
epidemic of crystal-meth addiction among young people.