COURT CHEERS FIRST DRUG REHAB GRADUATE

Rigorous Snohomish County Program Aims To Prevent Substance Abusers From
Reoffending

The prosecutor handed the judge a document Thursday dismissing a 1999
cocaine possession charge against a 27-year-old Everett man.

A room full of spectators stood, cheered and applauded.

The feeling was overwhelming, Gregory Rhodes of Everett said.

"I never felt this way before," Rhodes said. "People were cheering for me.
It's the first time people have applauded me for what I did."

What he did was become the first person to complete an intense drug
rehabilitation program established a littlt more than a year ago by
Snohomish County Human Services, prosecutors, public defenders and Superior
Court.

The people in the courtroom were not relatives and friends. They were
mainly other participants in the drug program, which will be expanded in
2001 with the help of a federal grant.

There was a feeling of empathy and solidarity in Judge Richard Thorpe's
courtroom. What Rhodes did was what many of the others also said they hope
to do.

Called CHART (Choosing Healthy Alternatives Recovery and Treatment) the
program takes between 12 and 18 months to complete.

Along the way, participants are required to take several drug tests weekly,
attend several three-hour counseling sessions a week, attend regular
12-step program meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous, and attend weekly
drug court sessions to assure Thorpe that they are walking the straight and
narrow.

If they succeed like Rhodes, the charges are dismissed. If they fail, they
most certainly will face jail time.

State Supreme Court Justice Charles Z. Smith, an old friend of Thorpe's,
attended the drug court session. Rhodes' success, he

said, is what drug court is all about.

"We've gone though cycles in the criminal justice system where we are
concerned with punishment or rehabilitation or both. We've moved away in
the state of Washington from rehabilitation," Smith said after the ceremony.

"I think we're swinging back to the idea of rehabilitation, and the drug
court concept is a step back in that direction," he added.

The idea is to identify people who are eligible, like those accused of
nonviolent offenses such as felony drug possession. Dealers, violent
criminals and sex offenders would not be eligible.

Candidates must have a drug addiction that needs treatment. Some candidates
must go into a residential drug treatment program before being accepted
into CHART.

Along the way, the judge hands out sometimes fatherly discipline if his
charges stray by not showing up for meetings. The punishment could be
performance of community service or a few days in jail.

While sometimes stern, the judge also admonishes and encourages. One man in
the program appeared to be doing well Thursday. Thorpe reminded him that
there are two holidays between now and his next appearance in drug court.

"You can celebrate, but not in the old way," Thorpe said.

To another, he said, 'Keep up the good work."

In response to the judge's questioning, one woman told him, 'I like the
way it feels to be sober.

Thorpe said there's no question the program is working. There are about 500
similar drug courts around the country, 14 others in this state.

Participants pay $600 toward their treatment. The county pays the rest, but
the investment will be worthwhile, Thorpe said. The cost is roughly the
same as - sending them to jail for 30 or 90 days, sentences a first-time
offender might get if convicted of drug possession, Thorpe said.

The savings come if they don't return to the criminal system, he said.

Nationally, up to 60 percent of those not treated will commit more drug
crimes after release from jail. The rate is 15 percent for those who go
through a drug - court program, the judge said.

"I tell them up front it's a lot easier to take a lousy 60 days in jail as
opposed to going through this program," Thorpe said.

But it was just the ticket for Rhodes, and probably a lot of others who
will graduate in the future.

The hardest part of the program was the time it took away from his wife,
three children and job, Rhodes said.

But he was resolute.

"I knew I needed help," he said. "It was the extra boost I needed."