DRUG COURT GIVES ADDICTS ASSIST OUT OF RECIDIVISM

Statistics tell us as many as 90 percent of drug users will return to drug
use and crime following release from prison. By using the concept of Adult
Drug Court the repeat offender rate drops to as low as 16 percent one year
after completion of the program.

Statistics also tell us that for every dollar spent in Drug Court treatment
programs we save $10 that would have to be spent in the corrections field.

But what numbers don't tell us is the difference a regimented,
court-supervised treatment program can have on the entire family of the
person involved.

One year of a solid program of treatment three times per week; weekly
reviews and drug testing is having a profound effect of putting families
back together that have been torn apart by drug use.

Judge Carroll Ross and District Attorney General Jerry formulated the local
Drug Court over a year ago based on programs in other jurisdictions. The
program is hard work for the participants, all of whom have entered guilty
pleas to felonies.

It is also hard work for the counselors, prosecutors and court personnel
involved. They must take a personal interest in each client. It is this
personal involvement along with peer encouragement and family support that
can make the program work.

All of the participants have committed nonviolent crimes, but have been
addicted to drugs. They have the opportunity to end years of drug abuse and
return to their families and become productive elements of our community.

Some will not make it through the year-long program and continuing
follow-up sessions. They will face the temptation of returning to their
former involvement with drugs and end their journey in prison.

But the majority in this program will beat their addiction s and rejoin
their families and stand tall with their personal success. They will have
their families and a future.

Then they will no longer be just a statistic.