DRUG COURT GIVES MARIJUANA OFFENDERS A BREAK

In an attempt to keep drug offenders out of trouble and save money
for taxpayers, a Broward judge today is launching Misdemeanor Drug
Court, a one-year test program aimed strictly at marijuana users.

It is the first such court in the nation, according to the National
Drug Court Institute in Alexandria, Va.

Broward already has attracted national attention with the success of
its 14-year-old Drug Court, which deals with drug offenses that carry
sentences of at least five years in prison and $5,000 fines.

In Florida, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana is a
misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The program is the brainchild of Broward County Court Judge Gisele
Pollack, who spent a decade as an assistant public defender in Drug
Court. "Keeping the community safer is the primary purpose," Pollack
said. "We found that 57 percent of crime in the United States is
marijuana-related, and this isn't the marijuana that people of the
'60s used. It is a new marijuana loaded with harmful chemicals that
are extremely addictive and account for an extremely high number of
emergency-room visits, tax dollars, crime and traffic fatalities."

Up to 200 offenders will be allowed to participate in the pilot
program, which is open to those 18 and older with no record of
selling or distributing drugs and no violent history.

Once accepted, they will be required to receive drug counseling and,
if necessary, treatment. They also face drug tests.

But they won't be convicted of a crime, which means they won't lose
their drivers licenses for two years and won't have records that
could keep them from jobs and college loans.

Joe Kollin is a reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a
Tribune Publishing newspaper.