CALGARY'S DRUG COURT NEEDS A FEDERAL CASH INJECTION TO KEEP ITS REHAB
PROGRAM RUNNING

Seven junkie criminals, one drug treatment court, not one repeat offender.

Not a single crime committed in the first half year of sentencing --
unless, of course, you consider who's footing the annual $250,000
bill for Calgary's new drug court.

That'd be the citizens of Calgary, who'd preferably see their civic
tax dollars going to things such as playgrounds, roads, ice rinks and sewers.

Instead, denied federal and provincial funding, Calgary is going it
alone, using property tax money to ensure drug addicts don't steal
and rob to keep their pipes and needles full.

Junkies are kept out of prison, cured of their habits, trained to
work, and the feds and province don't pay a dime for a service that
should be their responsibility.

If anything's a crime, it's that lack of funding.

"As far as I know, we're the only city in Canada using our own money
to fund a drug-treatment court," said Mayor Dave Bronconnier.

"When we funded it in our budget as a local government, it was to
demonstrate that it works, and it does work -- we've proven it, and
now it should be paid for by provincial and federal levels of
government, not out of local property tax dollars."

There is money, but Calgary has yet to see any.

Four other cities, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina and Ottawa, were each
given $1.6 million for a four-year drug court pilot, with Calgary
forced to go it alone -- although the province did eventually provide
free office space.

Today, a report on the Calgary Drug Treatment Court will go before
aldermen and by all indications the attempt at keeping non-violent
addicts out of prison and in rehabilitation is going remarkably well.

Since spring, seven addicts have gone through the drug court instead
of regular court, and according to the report, the goal of no repeat
crimes has been met.

"All of the clients have stayed off the streets to date and although
there have been relapses with drug use, none of the clients have been
charged with new criminal offences during these relapses."

The drug court offers treatment, job training and a new life.

The penalty for failure is jail.

Addicts spend the first six months in strict rehab, followed by 12 to
18 months in community-based treatment programs.

"Participants are subject to frequent and random drug screening;
appear in court weekly; and are assisted with obtaining employment,
housing, education, and treatment for mental health problems," states
the report.

All this for $250,000 -- you might think it's cheaper to send the
drug-addled creeps to jail, but you'd be wrong.

The question of coddling druggie criminals comes down to simple math:
Calgary Police Service data indicates addicts pay up to $3,000 a week
for drugs, requiring the theft of about $20,000 worth of property per
week, which is then sold at a fraction of the value.

Added up, the cost to citizens is about a million dollars a year per
addict, and that's without considering the bill for police, jail and
social services.

Without treatment, they'll do it again the minute they're released.

Taken that way, a drug court looks less like liberal pandering and
more like good financial planning.

The problem is, Calgary has something like 200 to 300 hardcore drug
users, and at a rate of only a dozen convictions a year, the current
court isn't going to put much of a dent in crime fuelled by crack,
meth and heroin.

To do that, the Calgary Drug Treatment Court requires about $850,000,
which would send about 25 addicts a year through the clean-up process.

For that, the court needs money from the province or federal
government, and so far, that hasn't happened.

Instead, the people who started the drug court -- including lawyers,
judges, police and Calgary's mayor -- will be heading back to city
council, asking for another $250,000, just to keep the program
scraping by for another year.