DRUG COURTS RECOGNIZE PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

Re: 'When you want the drug, nothing else matters,' June 21.

Drug courts have been in existence for more than 20 years, but have
not in any way stopped the rise in drug use or reduced costs to the
criminal justice system.

The fact that drug courts require a guilty plea to a crime to be
eligible for participation raises ethical, moral and legal questions
and concerns. Because guilty pleas are required before drug addiction
treatment is offered, according to the U.S. National Association of
Criminal Defence Lawyers, "drug courts have become little more than
conviction mills."

That said, this alternative program since its inception is a good and
serious effort to treat drug addiction without the costly
consequences of criminalizing the behaviours that sustain and support
these habits. These courts, foremost, recognize that drug addiction
is a public health problem best dealt with by those trained in the
causes and treatment of addictions. These courts may be an important
first step and acknowledgement that drug addiction is an illness that
must and should be treated as a public health problem, away from and
outside of the criminal justice system.

Emile Therien,

Ottawa

Public health and safety advocate