FIRST CASE DUE BEFORE DRUG COURT PUT BACK UNTIL NEXT WEEK By Cormac O'Keeffe

The first case due before the new Drug Court, yesterday, was put back until
next week.

The postponement came after experts judged that the defendant in the case
was not yet able to comply with the court's treatment regime.

"The client is not yet ready to be taken onto the programme," said a
spokesman for the Courts Service, which operates the new court.

"He is not yet at the emotional stage to recognise that he needs to
challenge his behaviour."

The delay follows last week's decision by GPs working in Dublin's drug
treatment centres not to co-operate with the Drug Court.

The Drug Court -- which had its inaugural sitting yesterday -- offers
treatment and rehabilitation, on a voluntary basis, rather than prison, to
non-violent drug offenders.

At the inauguration in the Richmond Courthouse, the head of the Drug Court,
Judge Gerard Haughton, said they were ready to start and would hear their
first case next Tuesday.

Justice Minister John O'Donoghue said the Drug Court marked a major
milestone in the history of criminal justice. "It is the very first time
that we have sought to tackle the drugs problem through the courts by
remanding people to treatment instead of prison."

The Minister said he believed the programme would be an outstanding success.

If shown to be successful, he said he intended to extend the project to
other parts of the country, and possibly within the hierarchy of the
judicial system.

A Courts Service spokesman said that 10 volunteers had applied to be
accepted onto the programme, and this would increase fairly quickly to a
maximum of 100 people.

Meanwhile, general practitioners working in drug clinics will meet
management of the Northern Area Health Board on Friday in an attempt to end
their dispute.

Unless an agreement is made, the doctors' refusal to treat any referrals
from the Drug Court -- unless they are already in treatment -- will continue.

It is understood that many of the initial batch of potential clients --
including the first proposed client -- are already on a treatment programme.

The Drug Court will run on a pilot, or test case, basis in the north inner
city, the area with the highest level of drug related crime in Dublin, over
the next 18 months.