CITY CONSIDERS FUNDING DRUG COURT

The City of Calgary may offer some financial support to help
establish a treatment court for drug offenders, Mayor Dave
Bronconnier said Wednesday.

Specialized drug courts that send addicts to treatment as an
alternative to jail have been successful in several U.S.
jurisdictions, and a committee of local legalists has been working to
bring the concept here.

"If it's something we can assist in, I'd certainly like to see it on
a pilot basis," Bronconnier said after he and Ald. Druh Farrell met
with committee members Wednesday afternoon.

"They have a well-thought-out program that probably needs a bit of
seed capital to get it off the ground. It's high on my list for consideration."

The city's involvement will depend on the level of public support for
the project and the ability of judicial officials and treatment
agencies to devote the facilities and people needed to operate a drug court.

Models vary depending on the jurisdiction, but generally defendants
agree to be transferred to drug court and enter a year-long,
court-supervised treatment program instead of going to jail. They are
required to get a full-time job and submit to regular drug tests.

Typically, only addicts who commit non-violent offences like
burglaries or frauds to pay for their addiction are eligible for drug
court -- people charged with selling or manufacturing drugs are not.

A Spokane, Wash., drug court visited by the Herald last year drops
criminal charges against any defendant who "graduates" after a year
of treatment.

Defendants who don't finish the program are subject to an automatic
guilty plea and whatever sentence the court imposes -- including jail.

Spokane County does not automatically disqualify defendants for
failing one drug test, but a pattern of infractions -- missed court
dates or repeated positive tests -- eventually results in removal
from drug court.

People involved with Calgary's proposal said they plan to follow a
similar harm-reduction philosophy.

However, the Calgary court may differ in one key aspect: treatment
may spare defendants from jail, but not necessarily from a criminal record.

"It's unlikely they'll have the charge dismissed or stayed," a source said.

Despite some different approaches, U.S. drug courts have been
successful. Although one-third of drug court defendants are kicked
out of Spokane County's drug court before graduating, only 10 per
cent of those who complete treatment reoffend.

Even with the dropouts, Spokane County officials said it's an
improvement on the regular court system, where the recidivism rate
among drug offenders is 75 per cent.

In Spokane and many other parts of the U.S., the explosion of
methamphetamine addiction has helped drive the establishment of drug
courts there since the mid-1990s.

Meth is a problem in its infancy in Calgary -- but the head of the
Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta, Insp. Harv Emter, called the
highly addictive, easily made drug "the most significant threat we
have right now in the province."

Drug addiction and the crime it creates has prompted the federal
government to try drug courts in some Canadian jurisdictions.

Calgary lost a bid to join four other cities in a $13.3-million
federal program launched last year, but the local committee has
continued to press on.