SOARING METH USE CONTRIBUTES TO NEED FOR 'DRUG COURT'

Associate District Judge Curtis DeLapp offered startling statistics to
support the district's need for a "drug court" in Washington County
during a town hall meeting held Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist
Church of Bartlesville.

"Drugs have become now the highest percentage of total arrests," he
said. "They account for 14.6 percent of arrests for females and 14.1
percent of arrests for males."

The escalation of drug and alcohol addiction has forced many states,
including Oklahoma, to explore more effective, cost-saving methods for
dealing with drug related crime -- a problem that continues to grow
across the state, DeLapp said.

Of the 640 felony cases filed in Washington County Court in 2003, 164
were drug related, DeLapp said. As of Monday, 118 of the 433 felony
cases filed in the court were drug related.

"The total adult drug arrest rate has increased by 115 percent since
1990 -- 152 percent for females and 104 percent for males," he said.

DeLapp said drug courts were created to address rehabilitation, giving
offenders time to straighten out their lives and get away from
addiction, and because it is cost effective.

"The average cost of incarcerating a woman for one year is $19,847
while the average cost of incarcerating a man is $17,988," he said,
attributing the higher cost for females to childbirth during
incarceration.

He said the cost to taxpayers when using a drug court program is about
one-fourth the cost of traditional sentencing.

"If you can spend about $2,000 per year as opposed to about $19,000
for females with the hopes that you solve the problem, you're saving a
huge amount of money in the state budget," DeLapp said. "It is a lot
cheaper to try to put people into treatment programs -- to keep them
working, to keep them in the community, to keep them from being
warehoused in the Department of Corrections."

DeLapp said a primary component in the need for more drug courts in
Oklahoma is the staggering presence of methamphetamine in the state.
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive and relatively inexpensive drug
that has severely impacted the lives of many families, as well as the
judicial system, DeLapp said.

"It's a pervasive issue, obviously, and you would almost have to have
had buried your head in the sand for the last couple of years to not
notice the increase in methamphetamine in the state of Oklahoma and
how that drug has just gone rampant," DeLapp said.

"Methamphetamine is a very dangerous drug and a very addictive drug.
Studies have shown that even with in-patient treatment, it's hard to
get off methamphetamine once it gets in your system. Methamphetamine
has a profound effect on not only the brain, but also the body. The
chemicals they use to make it are toxic."

The drug plays a role in more than half the prison sentences given to
both men and women in Oklahoma, he said.

Currently, there are 21 drug courts in Oklahoma, DeLapp said.

"Of those 21 drug courts in Oklahoma, a total of 1,257 people
participated last year," he said. "There are currently 720 active
participants and 333 have graduated, which means that they have
successfully completed the program without going to prison or jail."

Eligible participants in the drug court programs include non-violent
offenders, and consist primarily of persons charged with drug
possession, DeLapp said. Participants may include offenders with prior
convictions, he said. Programs for juveniles are available as well.

The success of drug and DUI (which address alcohol related crimes)
court programs is "almost double" that of more traditional sentencing,
DeLapp said.

"(Studies show that) 36 months after entry into the program, the
re-arrest numbers for court graduates was 18.9 percent. That number
compares to judicial probation offenders of 35.1 percent," DeLapp
said. "That's a huge difference. It's almost double."

Washington County, like other counties, rely on state funding to
establish the program, DeLapp said.

"Money is what runs state government," he said, "and over the last
couple of years, money has been pretty tight. You've seen that in the
news."

Despite the budget crunch in recent years, however, DeLapp said
Washington County was recently notified by the Oklahoma Department of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse that the district is "next on the
list" for funding.

"I'm encouraged by the letter," DeLapp said. "We're No. One on the
list."

DeLapp said court officials, including the district attorney's office,
will continue to seek funding from other sources as well, including
corporate sources in the Bartlesville area.