DRUG TREATMENT COURT PROPOSAL LAUDED BY POLICE

Supporters Reject 'Hugs For Thugs' Complaints As Unfounded

Once scorned by skeptics as "hugs for thugs," drug treatment courts
now enjoy the support of many law enforcement agencies, including the
Calgary Police Service.

A committee of Calgary court officials, police and municipal
politicians want to establish a drug court in this city by September.

Calgary police see the proposal as a way of reducing crimes committed
by addicts to pay for their addictions.

Drug court defendants agree to supervised treatment and to adhere to
strict conditions as an alternative to jail.

End the addiction, the rationale goes, end the cycle of crimes
committed by the addict.

"It only makes sense," said acting Staff Sgt. Nina Vaughan of the
Calgary police drug unit.

"Any time you can remove people from the criminal element, it makes
the police's job easier."

Typically, only addicts who commit non-violent offences such as
burglaries or frauds are eligible. People charged with selling or
manufacturing large quantities of drugs are not.

Since their development in the U.S. in the mid-1990s, drug courts
have built a track record of success.

During its 10-year history, the drug court in Spokane County, Wash.,
has successfully rehabilitated 90 per cent of the defendants who
"graduate" after a year of treatment.

Although one-third of defendants are kicked out before graduating,
Spokane's drug court is more successful at preventing addicts from re-
offending than the regular court system.

The concept is newer in Canada, where treatment courts exist in
Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

With four years of funding from the federal and provincial
governments, officials launched the Edmonton Drug Treatment and
Community Restoration Court last December.

"We're helping (addicts) become productive members of the Edmonton
community again," said Jim Myklebust, the court's executive director.

Nine people are in treatment, three defendants are wanted on warrants
and may or may not be allowed back, and one defendant has withdrawn.

While some U.S. jurisdictions will expunge a defendant's criminal
charge if they finish treatment, Edmonton's court requires an
automatic guilty plea.

The difference is in the sentence. Defendants who finished treatment
during an earlier pilot project received suspended sentences. A
defendant who didn't finish and went back to regular court got a two-
year jail sentence.

"They all ended up in much better shape than they would have been,
had they gone through the traditional system," Myklebust said.

Getting clean comes with great effort, Myklebust said. The programs
have tolerance, however, for those who struggle -- a positive drug
test doesn't mean flunking out.

"There's an underlying understanding that relapse is going to happen.
Our job is to pick them up and work with that -- up to a point," he
said.

"It's not a free ride," added Myklebust. "Some folks, when faced with
the option, choose to go ahead and do their (jail) time. It's easier."