TESTS OF PAROLEES CREDITED WITH DROP IN DRUG USE

An aggressive drug-testing program launched by the Maryland corrections
department has resulted in a sharp decline in use among those on parole or
probation for drug crimes, according to a preliminary study.

But the study found that the punishments that are supposed to be imposed on
those who fail drug tests under the state's 16-month-old "Break the Cycle"
program have not been enforced because parole and probation agents are too
swamped with cases.

Faye S. Taxman, an assistant research professor in the University of
Maryland's criminology department who studied the program, warned that
until punishments are implemented, the overall effectiveness of the $2.9
million-a-year program will remain in question.

"Right now, people are responding to the pressure of being drug tested,"
Taxman said. But without punishment, Taxman said, "over time, offenders
will realize there's no consequences to drug use."

Break the Cycle, which began in October 1998 and which corrections
officials call their most significant reform, forces people released on
parole or sentenced to probation for drug crimes to take twice-weekly drug
tests.

With each failure, a stricter sanction is supposed to be imposed: first a
warning, then increased monitoring by social workers and possibly jail.
Before the program began, there was almost no drug testing of people on
parole or probation.

The program, a cornerstone in Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's
crime-prevention strategy, marries two criminology assumptions: that recent
parolees and probationers convicted of drug crimes have a high likelihood
of becoming repeat offenders, and that frequent contact with the justice
system has a deterrent effect.

Since the inception of Break the Cycle, 19,500 people on parole or
probation have taken 320,000 drug tests. In her study, Taxman followed
several groups for two-month intervals. Thirty-four percent tested positive
for drugs when they started parole or probation. After two months, only 16
percent tested positive, she found. In other words, about half of those who
started their parole or probation using drugs stopped after two months of
twice-a-week testing. The pattern was consistent throughout the nine months
of Taxman's study.

Townsend (D), who heads the governor's crime-prevention efforts, argues
that fewer people on parole or probation using drugs means less crime.

"Every time an offender passes a drug test, it means he hasn't used heroin
or cocaine in the past three days or had to steal to get the drug money,"
she said in a statement.

If a person repeatedly tests positive, parole and probation officers can
ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant. But the idea is to avoid this:
Warrants often gather dust in court files. Instead, the core of Break the
Cycle is the interaction between parolee or probationer and supervising
authorities that is supposed to occur before this last resort.

"It's the constant interaction with authorities that will get these people
off of drugs--that's the key," said corrections spokesman Leonard Sipes Jr.

But interaction takes time, and time is something most parole and probation
officers don't have. Each officer in the jurisdictions where Break the
Cycle is in effect--Baltimore City and Baltimore, Charles, Howard,
Montgomery, Prince George's and Washington counties--handles an average of
100 cases at a time.

"The caseloads of these probation and parole agents is so large that in
some cases the sanctions were not implemented at all," Sipes said.

Instead of frequent meetings with the parolees and probationers who tested
positive for drugs, the officers did what they have always done: asked for
arrest warrants. To remedy this, the administration of Gov. Parris N.
Glendening (D) has proposed funding for 50 additional officers in the
fiscal 2001 budget. That budget is awaiting the legislature's approval. But
Sipes said the additional officers would do little to improve parole and
probation officers' caseloads.

"It would require hundreds and hundreds of agents to get the caseloads down
to 50," he said.

Sipes said his department is working on a system that would prioritize
cases so that parole and probation officers could intensively monitor a
handful of the most serious cases as well as those people judged likely to
change.

Taxman, who has a $75,000 annual state grant to study Break the Cycle over
the next few years, said that despite the caseload problem, getting people
to routinely submit to drug tests--and interact with the justice system--is
a significant advance.

"Just by drug testing, they're able to deter some people's drug use. The
majority of the decrease [in drug use] is due to a consistent pattern of
testing," she said. "In most other states' probation systems, they don't
even test."

Taxman emphasized that following through with monitoring is crucial to
ensuring that Break the Cycle does not become another passing
criminal-justice fad.

"Until [criminals] start seeing others punished, they're probably doubtful
that punishment even exists," she said.