FUNDING CLEARED FOR BC DRUG COURT

Ottawa, Victoria To Share Costs

OTTAWA -- A court that will force addicts to get treatment rather than send
them to jail will open in Vancouver this year, the B.C. and federal
governments announced Monday.

Canada's second drug treatment court, to be modeled after a pilot project
in Toronto, got the go-ahead after Ottawa promised about $1.6 million over
four years under an agreement-in-principle.

The court could open as early as this April and will begin processing about
50 addicts facing criminal charges such as trafficking, property offences,
and prostitution, said B.C. Attorney-General Graeme Bowbrick.

Bowbrick said the B.C. government will kick in $540,000 for the 2001-02
year beginning April 1, rising to just over $1 million by the project's
fourth year.

The court, to be located at the Provincial Court House, will deal with
people who engage in crime to fund their addiction.

"Maybe the best approach to take is to still demand accountability and
responsibility from people who have committed offences, but at the same
time offer them assistance to beat the addiction," Bowbrick said after
meeting with federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan and Solicitor-General
Lawrence MacAulay.

The federal and provincial ministers said the initiative is only a small
part of a possible solution to the Lower Mainland's horrendous drug
problems, which are concentrated in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"Realistically, it is not going to make a huge dent at first when you're
dealing with 50 people at a time," said Bowbrick, who toured Toronto's
two-year-old drug court program last November.

But McLellan said the experience in Toronto and the U.S. shows the criminal
justice system has greater success in dealing with addicts if it is
integrated with other social agencies and services.

"You have a real chance of getting people to turn their lives around and
not be repeat offenders," said McLellan, who wants drug courts in all major
cities by 2004.

Specialized drug courts were originally established in 1989 in Florida by
now-U.S. Attorney-General Janet Reno. These courts proved so effective in
combatting recidivism that there now are several hundred operating across
the U.S., directing addicts into treatment, retraining and a new life.

Drug abuse is at crisis levels in Vancouver, where it's believed there are
12,000 hardcore users in the metropolitan area. In 1999, more than 385
addicts had died of overdoses in Vancouver. The city has averaged 147 drug
overdose deaths a year since 1993. In 1988 there were 39 such deaths in the
entire province.

In a little-noticed section of the Liberal campaign platform, the party
promised to more than double its crime prevention budget by $145 million
over the next four years. Over the same period, the Liberals committed $420
million to a national drug strategy to tackle substance abuse.

Youth drug abuse has jumped back to the high levels of the early 1970s.
Government studies indicate about 70 per cent of prisoners are in jail
because of involvement with drugs or alcohol.

In Toronto, it's estimated 90 per cent of female prostitutes are hooked on
heroin or crack cocaine, McLellan said last October.

Federal NDP MP Libby Davies, who represents the riding that includes the
Downtown Eastside, is opposed to the deal struck by the federal Liberals
and B.C.'s NDP government.'

"The drug court is based on the premise that people are somehow refusing
treatment and therefore they have to be coerced into it," Davies said.

"The reality is that people are desperate to get treatment. There's waiting
lists, there's lineups. It's difficult to get into detox."

While the federal government has described the Toronto project as a success
story, Davies said it's expensive and unproven.

The federal contribution to Vancouver's program will pay for a prosecutor,
a project coordinator, and other administrative support, while the province
will cover treatment costs through the ministry of children and families.

Bowbrick said addicts from surrounding municipalities will have access to
the Vancouver drug court.

McLellan said the federal government won't take a bolder step advocated by
some in order to reduce crime and addict deaths -- the legalization of
drugs like heroin and cocaine.

The federal government's goal is to set up special drug courts in all major
Canadian cities over the next three years.

The Toronto court includes an assigned judge, federal Crown prosecutor, and
a defence lawyer, who are backed up by social agencies, treatment experts,
and employment counsellors.

Addicts who opt for treatment rather than a jail cell must provide urine
samples every week and undergo therapy.

Participants who fall off the wagon aren't immediately jettisoned from the
program as long as they're honest about it, though they are expected to
kick the habit by six months.

Once they're deemed clean they "graduate" and are given a suspended
sentence or a conditional discharge and are required to continue therapy
while on probation.

Accused who do flunk out or drop out of treatment are returned to the
ordinary justice system for sentencing.