ADVOCATES WARN OF FALLOUT FROM CUTTING DRUG PROGRAMS

Mecklenburg court officials and activists Wednesday called on N.C.
legislators to fund the state's drug treatment courts that help drug
addicts and alcoholics recover.

The Senate has eliminated $1 million in its budget for drug court programs
across the state.

But advocates for the drug courts warned at a news conference Wednesday
that cutting the $1 million and losing the innovative treatment programs
would cost the state more money.

They told reporters that it costs about $2,500 a year to put an addict
through the drug treatment program. They said it costs about $20,000 a year
to keep an inmate in prison.

"If there was ever a short-sighted decision, this is it," Si Kahn,
executive director of Grassroots Leadership, said of the Senate's decision
to cut funding for drug treatment courts.

"We have a program here that works. We need to keep it."

Grassroots Leadership is a nonprofit organization that works to improve
prison and criminal justice policies.

Mecklenburg's drug treatment court, set up in 1995, was the first of its
kind in North Carolina. A DWI treatment court was established five years later.

People repeatedly convicted of drunken driving are selected for the DWI
treatment court. They're required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
and outpatient treatment every week for a year. They are given weekly drug
and alcohol tests and must return to court every month for a progress report.

The DWI treatment court has won an award from the National Commission
Against Drunk Driving after being nominated by Mecklenburg's Mothers
Against Drunk Driving chapter.

Mecklenburg court officials say the drug treatment courts work. They say
the re-arrest rate for drug offenders not involved in a treatment court is
67 percent. For participants in the DWI treatment court, the re-arrest rate
is 11 percent.

During Wednesday's news conference, two graduates of Mecklenburg's drug
treatment court told reporters how the program had helped turn their lives
around.

William Harlee, a former police officer who lost his job after getting into
drugs, said: "I thank God for the program. It works. Without this program I
couldn't have gotten off drugs."

Linda Roberts with Mothers Against Drunk Driving also urged legislators to
keep funding the drug treatment courts.

"Drug court works," she said. "We need to keep it."