CZAR URGES MORE SPECIAL DRUG COURTS

Drug courts offering specialized treatment represent "compelling" new
solutions to America's age-old drug habit, federal drug czar Barry
McCaffrey said in Phoenix on Thursday.

McCaffrey urged state lawmakers in Arizona and elsewhere to pony up
more money for the courts, which promote rehabilitation instead of
prison for non-violent drug offenders.

Offenders are imprisoned only if they refuse treatment.

McCaffrey said the special courts appear to be effective in changing
the behavior of chronic drug users who pass repeatedly through the
criminal-justice system without getting treatment.

Early results indicate roughly 70 percent of those treated through
drug courts "substantially modified" their drug-use behavior after a
year, he said. Of 3,200 juveniles who enrolled in programs to date,
two-thirds graduated and more 80% percent returned to school.

In addition, McCaffrey said there are fewer re-arrests of drug court
graduates than among those in regular courts. By the end of this year,
roughly 700 drug courts will be operating nationwide.

McCaffrey was in Phoenix to address the First Annual Juvenile and
Family Drug Court Conference. He also met with staff members of The
Arizona Republic.

"You'll save a ton of money if you do this," McCaffrey said, adding
that it costs about $26,000 a year to lock up drug offenders. Drug
treatment costs $2,000 to $8,000 a year per person.

The federal government will spend about $40 million this year to help
states establish drug courts, and McCaffrey expects to increase
funding 25 percent next year. But he added, "The real funding support
needs to come out of state legislatures."

Drug offenders sentenced through the Maricopa County drug court,
operating since 1992, must undergo rehabilitation and submit
themselves to close supervision by the courts.

McCaffrey praised programs bringing the justice and drug-treatment
systems together to provide help for people who often are not criminals.

Similarly, the Arizona Attorney General's Office has begun a program
bringing police and Child Protective Services caseworkers together to
help children endangered by parents or relatives using or
manufacturing methamphetamine.