SMART TRIAL FOR DRUG ADDICTS

Even the most ardent hardliners would concede not everyone convicted of a
crime belongs in jail.

Legions of people go through Canadian criminal courts each year whose
biggest problem is drug addiction, yet, whether they end up in jail or not,
they receive little or no treatment for their underlying addiction.

Some, of course, don't want treatment. But for those who do, and who are
willing to abide by some pretty strict conditions, specialized drug courts
offer an inventive alternative.

Advocates in Edmonton are working to get one funded here, modelled in part
after established drug courts in Toronto and Vancouver.

The pilot project they set up will follow 10 people recently charged in a
city police sting -- all were charged with drug trafficking, all are known
prostitutes and all are drug addicts who volunteered to go to drug court
instead of conventional court.

In exchange for a guilty plea and conditional sentence, meaning no jail
time, they will undergo drug treatment and related counselling, submit to
drug tests and appear periodically before a judge to talk about their
rehabilitation efforts.

The hope is they will take the opportunity to turn their lives around. If
they don't, they'll go back through conventional courts and may well end up
in jail.

The province has committed to the effort by promising a judge, prosecutors,
court time and court-services staff to the tune of almost $600,000.

The steering committee of legal professionals that has worked to set up the
court is seeking a similar amount of funding from the federal government,
which is apparently prepared to fund drug courts in several additional
Canadian cities. The federal money would pay for drug treatment through
AADAC, other counselling and an evaluation project that would follow the
court's first year of operation.

Proponents of the Edmonton court are hoping their pilot project will show
federal officials they're committed to set up a permanent drug court. If
they get their funding, they're hoping to "graduate" another 25 people from
the program, on top of the 10 people in the pilot.

The anticipated cost of $8,000 per offender (mostly to cover the cost of
drug treatment) pales in comparison to the $38,000 per year it costs to
keep someone in a provincial jail.

While the Toronto court has seen little recidivism among those who have
successfully met the court conditions, the overall number who have
completed the program has been small. Edmonton officials hope, with better
cooperation between prosecutors and police and improved eligibility
requirements, they can increase those numbers.

Those who have worked several years to bring this local proposal forward
are certainly committed to see it succeed. And there is little doubt the
current system just isn't working for those many non-violent offenders
whose crimes are fueled by drug addiction.

It is telling to note that of the 55 people charged in the recent Edmonton
police sting operation, 22 have expressed interest in going through drug court.

"Very few people involved in prostitution want to be doing what they're
doing," says Jo Ann McCartney, a former police officer who now works with
prostitutes and is involved in the pilot project. Those people, mostly
women, bounce in and out of jail, yet get no real help for their underlying
problems. The province pays $103 a day to keep each of those women in jail.

"Give me that money and I can help them," says McCartney.

The financial argument is compelling. So is the idea of offering drug
addicts who want to change their ways some real hope, instead of an endless
cycle of court proceedings. A drug court isn't the answer for everyone.

It will only ever help a small number of people, at best. But surely it is
a better use of resources to a better and more productive end.