REACH OUT TO DRUG ADDICTS

Second chances are what drug courts are all about.

The idea has been around in Canada since 1998, with drug courts
established in six cities, including Edmonton.

The goal is to break the cycle of drug addiction by putting users in
treatment programs, not behind bars.

It is aimed at those with lengthy non-violent criminal records. To
get access to the program, the addict must plead guilty to their
crime and accept responsibility for their actions. The conviction
still shows up on their record, but they get a potentially
life-saving opportunity to kick their habit.

The key to the effort is its strict supervision that includes weekly
meetings in person or by phone with a judge so they can ensure the
addict is fulfilling their end of the bargain and not treating the
program as a dodge to stay out of jail.

Judge Darlene Wong, who presides over Edmonton's drug court, calls it
"therapeutic jurisprudence.

"The concept is that warehousing people doesn't generally solve
anything, but if there can be intervention and the right resources,
then many changes can be made in a person's life to keep them from
criminal behaviour," Wong told the Edmonton Journal.

Wong assured that the program is not a cake walk. In fact, some find
it easier to do time than to tackle the rigid treatment program,
which is designed to wean addicts off drugs for good.

And it appears to work. Nationally, only 11 per cent of those who
went through the program relapsed.

A retired Edmonton police officer, who was to speak at a conference
of the Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Centres, has had a
street-eye view of the drug problem and backs the courts.

"There has to be a consequence to your actions, but at the same time
does it make sense that I keep arresting somebody for 25 years in my
career?" said Allan Vonkeman, who headed the crystal meth task force.

No doubt, a stint behind bars has scared a few addicts straight. But
watch any drug trial in Canada and it becomes obvious that those
facing a judge have usually been there before. And often they have
been there many times and faced increasingly stiffer penalties, yet
are no closer to getting off drugs than they were years earlier.

At a weekend drug conference at Hunting Hills High School, parents
were given a sobering view of the destruction that drugs can wreak on
the young and their families. Children well short of their teens have
been caught smoking marijuana, which is considered by many to be a
gateway drug and a stepping stone to more addictive and debilitating drugs.

Cara Skjaveland, whose brother was eight when he started smoking
marijuana, said her sibling only got clean when their parents got him
into a rehabilitation program in Calgary. Clearly, the disease of
drug addiction can be beaten. But it takes time, it takes money and
it takes a lot of determination from the addict.

Given the numbers of drug addicts who routinely pop up in courthouses
across Alberta, rehabilitation will no doubt cost a lot of money. But
the price tag will be much less than for housing and feeding
prisoners or building new jails.

It is also the right thing to do. The crimes committed by drug
addicts should not be downplayed. Even non-violent crimes, such as
home break and enters, often leave residents traumatized and fearful,
feelings that can linger for years.

Tossing addicts in jail and throwing away the key may fulfill
society's desire for revenge for a short time. However, eventually
drug addicts will get out and if left untreated, many will begin the
whole cycle again.

More treatment was a key recommendation of the province's task force
on crystal meth, which delivered 83 recommendations last month. They
included 100 more detoxification and another 200 treatment beds for
meth users and creation of a special fund to help combat meth use
among the young.

The task force also raised more than a few eyebrows with the
suggestion that the Criminal Code be turned on its head by requiring
those caught with crystal meth chemicals to prove their innocence.

Drug courts are a much better way to use the judicial system.

Reporter Paul Cowley is on a five-month assignment as an Advocate copy editor.