DRUG COURT IS COMING SOON TO GRAFTON COUNTY

Plymouth - Community leaders from the Upper Valley and throughout
Grafton County heard how a drug court could make a difference in
turning around the lives of drug addicts, their families and
citizens who are victimized by drug-related crimes.

"With this we have a good chance to change the paradigm so we don't
see as much recidivism," said Grafton County Superior Court Judge
Jean Burling, who attended a luncheon yesterday and heard from a New
Jersey prosecutor and a drug defendant whose life was changed by
the Orange County drug court program.

Burling attended a training seminar in St. Louis in August with
seven other members of a Grafton County team who are working to
develop a drug court in North Haverhill by 2007. A similar program
was begun in Strafford County this spring.

There would be intensive, and intrusive judicial oversight, with
drug testing three times a week for three months, counselling and
meeting weekly with a judge and a coordinator to go over progress.
That judge and coordinator would know the participant well.
Those involved in the drug court would be required to show a weekly
pay stub to prove they are working, to attend counseling and after
time, would be rewarded with more freedom once they prove they are
clean and productive.

Already, the county of 85,000 residents has set aside $52,000 over
two years as seed money for the drug court. Efforts are underway to
obtain grant money from the federal government to help pay for the
intensive treatment, which Grafton County Attorney Rick St. Hilaire
believes will over time reduce the problems of drugs, particularly
the problem of heroin in the Lebanon area. The first step to
eligibility for federal money was the task force attending the
seminar in St. Louis. The county was chosen among 40 others in the
nation to attend.

The idea for the Grafton County drug court came after Bill Sahlman
of Energy Shield Century 21 in Lebanon began to work on a house for
Bob Gasser, an Orange County, N.J., prosecutor who was planning to
retire to the Upper Valley. Gasser told Sahlman of his work
and what a wonderful experience it was to see people's lives change.

Sahlman contacted St. Hilaire and began to discuss the idea of a
drug court here.

Yesterday at the Common Man Inn, Gasser and one of the men he
prosecuted, Vincent Reeves, 36, spoke to law enforcement officials,
state elected leaders, and Grafton County community leaders about
how the program worked.

"It was the intense supervision, that's what worked for me," said
Reeves, who had a $100 a day heroin habit that was destroying his life.

He said he had two consecutive two-year sentences over his head when
he went to the drug court. He qualified because he was a
non-violent, non-sexual offender who was addicted. After a 30-day
inpatient treatment program, he showed up three times a week for
drug testing and met weekly with a judge and Gasser,
the prosecutor, to go over where he was headed.

He said he is now three years clean and has an 11-month-old baby.

"It's an unbelievable program," he said.

Attending the luncheon were police chiefs or top officials from
Lebanon, Plymouth, Canaan, Ashland, Lincoln and Bristol along with
Anne Rice of the state Attorney General's Office and District 1
Executive Councilor Ray Burton. Also present were members of the
task force working on the plan, including Sahlman, Grafton County
Commission Chairman Mike Cryans, Judge Burling, Superintendent of
the Grafton County House of Correction Glenn Libby, Gasser, defense
attorney Gary Apfel, treatment specialist Greg Norman, Grafton
County Superior Court Clerk Bob Muh, Lebanon Police Chief
Jim Alexander, and St. Hilaire.

After the presentation, Judge Burling was asked how the program
might work in the court. She said one thing that needs to be worked
out is getting quick drug testing results so when participants come
for weekly sessions with her, she can get a drug test result on the
spot. Currently those results take several weeks.

There are other logistics, but Burling said such a court is crucial
to reduce the "scourge" that plagues the community, not just from
the addicted person's perspective, but those who are preyed upon to
support the habit.

"We'll just do it because it is a priority," Burling said.

St. Hilaire said he hopes to have the drug court up and running by
the spring of 2007.