'IT'S ABOUT HOPE,' DRUG COURT JUDGE SAYS

Jane Godfry says she looks forward to changing the bleak future of
addicts

In 20 years on the bench as a provincial and B.C. Supreme Court judge,
Jane Godfrey has heard hundreds of stories.

But the one that sticks out for her is not the recounting of an
accused who stood before her, but the story from the mother of an
addict from Toronto.

"When you hear parents describing what their lives were like with
children who are addicted, you don't forget that," said Godfrey Tuesday.

"One woman described how her son had been addicted from age 14 to 21
and her despair from sitting by the phone waiting for the call that he
was dead."

Godfrey, who recently attended the graduation of successfully treated
addicts at the University of Toronto's drug court, said the mother of
the former addict cried throughout the ceremony with relief that her
son was alive.

As B.C.'s first drug treatment court judge, Godfrey will spend the
next four years witnessing the successes and the failures of the program.

"I've seen such a cycle of people before me. I've given them long
sentences and short sentences and I accepted this to see if there's
some way to do things better."

The treatment, which involves a regimen of constant supervision,
regular court appearances and random urine samples, follows a U.S.
model first established in Florida.

Holding a drug treatment court in Vancouver makes sense, said Godfrey,
with the problem of addiction in the Downtown Eastside getting
progressively worse.

"The people who are addicted have a pretty bleak future, which is what
makes this program so interesting. It's about hope that we can do
something to break the cycle."

Godfrey graduated in law from the University of B.C., was in private
practice for one year, then served as a Crown counsel from 1974 to
1981.

She was appointed to the provincial bench in 1981, then promoted to
the B.C. Supreme Court in 1989.

In an unusual move, based on her preference for criminal cases,
Godfrey transferred back to the provincial court in 1990, where she
remained until her appointment to the drug treatment court.

In 1998, Godfrey set a Canadian precedent by granting a discharge to a
Vancouver man who had $50,000 worth of marijuana in his basement,
which he said he used to lessen the pain of his glaucoma.

"I have no difficulty whatsoever in understanding his personal
motivation and I have extreme sympathy for his personal situation,"
Godfrey said in her ruling.

While the marijuana ruling was exceptional, Godfrey said Monday she
has dealt extensively with Vancouver drug problems at the provincial
court level.

At the drug treatment court, in Room 309 at the Main Street courthouse
downtown, Godfrey said she will primarily see people who have been
charged with possession of heroin and cocaine and trafficking small
amounts of drugs to support their habits.

"We're talking about the addict at Main and Hastings who sells three
to four rocks of cocaine."

In the coming months, Godfrey said she would like to see the cases
expanded to property crimes, for example, cases in which addicts have
broken into cars to steal money.