PROCESS BEGINS FOR ADULT DRUG COURT

Law enforcement authorities and community advocates met last night to
begin the process of establishing adult drug courts in Putnam and
DeKalb counties.

Nearly 40 people, including criminal court judges John Hudson, Lillian
Sells, and Leon Burns, District Attorney General Bill Gibson, county
commissioner Johnnie Wheeler, Sheriff David Andrews and Cookeville and
Algood police chiefs Bob Terry and Jim Eldridge as well as
representatives from Tennessee Tech and UT and advocacy groups, met to
hear Nashville Judge Seth Norman describe the benefits that an adult
drug court could bring to the Upper Cumberland.

After the meeting individuals signed up to help organize and fund the
court that could be up and running as soon as next fall.

An adult drug court handles cases involving non-violent
substance-abusing offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug
testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives.

A team of "interveners" including judges, prosecutors, defense
counsel, correctional personal, and educational and vocational experts
and others work with the offender, forcing him or her to deal with his
or her substance abuse problem.

Norman established the first drug court in Nashville nine years ago in
1996. The program has proven so successful that communities in other
areas of the nation have used it as a pattern to form their own drug
courts.

Norman stressed the financial benefits to communities that support a
drug court as well as the health benefits to drug users, and therefore
to the communities in which they live.

"I got tired of seeing the same individuals coming through the door
time after time," Norman said about the period before the drug court
was established.

"But I realized that people don't grow up wanting to be addicts.
They're looking for a way out even when they seem most addicted," he
said.

"Eventually they will get tired of the drug use and be ready to quit.
But if we don't treat them early on and just keep warehousing them,
then by the time they're ready to quit on their own they will be 50 or
60 years old and when they're released from prison they will be
completely dependent on society," he said.

"It's been estimated that the cost to society to support an individual
from the time he's 50 until he dies is about $250,000," Judge Norman
said.

According to the judge, it costs at least $51 a day to house a drug
addicted prisoner in Tennessee.

But those prisoners who sign up for the drug program are required to
work and pay about 85 percent of their prison related costs.

"If they're not part of a drug court, they'll pay only about three
percent," he said.

"Not everyone will be cured," he said. "But we can cut down on the
costs."

In Putnam County the number one substance abused is alcohol, second is
methamphetamine, the third is opiates and the fourth is cocaine.

Norman said in the beginning there would probably be only a 50-60
percent success rate with a new drug court.

"In the first two or three months there will be sharp drop-out rate,
but those who stay after that will be ready to change."

In the judge's court in Nashville, the recidivism rate is only 25
percent.

"It's a 'tough love' program. Once they find that out they respond,"
Norman said.

The 'tough' part of the program requires random drug testing three
times at week - often where a participant is called by phone and given
a predetermined amount of time to get to the testing station.

The "love" part is the positive feedback the participants receive from
the court team members.

Norman said that locking up drug users only enhances their craving for
drugs.

"70 percent who go to prison with an addiction will end up repeating
their addiction and be back in jail within three years," he said.

When participants finish Norman's drug program, "They will all have
jobs, they will all have drivers' licenses, they will be able to vote,
they will have regained their children, and they will be paying
taxes," he said.

No violent prisoners are permitted in the program, but many of the
participants have regularly committed smaller crimes.

"Most are burglars or shop lifters looking for money for their
habit.

"I once took a poll in my court of how many crimes the drug inmates
had committed a year that had nothing to do with drug crimes. The
average turned out to be 86. Think how much police, clerk, jail and
legal work is involved for each inmate. It's a staggering number,"
Norman said.

The judge was so sure the program would be successful in 1996 that he
talked the metro government into giving him two or three old buildings
in Nashville that the drug court participants cleaned up and rehabbed.

"We have 100 beds in the residential program -- 60 for men and 40 for
women.

"Most drug programs only give participants a 14-day program. We know
that's not enough," the judge said.

Both Putnam County and DeKalb County are starting the process of
setting up drug courts. A three year federal grant has been applied
for that should provide about $450,000 for start up costs although
some people last night discussed the possibility of beginning with a
smaller pilot program.

Judge Norman is the founder and presiding judge of the Davidson County
Drug Court. In 2003, the Tennessee Association of Drug Court
Professionals recognized him as the "Pioneer of Tennessee Drug Courts"
for his exhaustive efforts in making Drug Courts a crucial and
instrumental part of Tennessee's Criminal Justice System.