ANTI-DRUG STRATEGY OUTLINED

BRATTLEBORO -- The creation of a drug court and the hiring of a coordinator
to pull together area substance abuse services will be among the
recommendations a town committee studying the drug problem will make to the
selectboard this month.

The recommendations made public Wednesday night by the Brattleboro
Substance Abuse Action Team also include updating and enforcing town
ordinances and reaching out to the community and landlords.

These recommendations will be formally brought before the Brattleboro
Selectboard at its June 15 meeting.

The drug committee, whose members include two selectboard members and
Police Chief John Martin, formed in late 2002 in response to a series of
complaints by groups of citizens over the growing drug problem in town.

In 2003, there were 82 drug-related deaths in Vermont, outpacing for the
first time traffic-related deaths. In Brattleboro, residents complained of
being too afraid to walk down their street even in the daytime and told
stories of intimidating drug dealers who threatened violence if they went
to the police.

At the drug committee's Wednesday meeting, much of the discussion focused
on establishing a drug court in Brattleboro.

Members stated they were not recommending implementation of a drug court in
Brattleboro, but suggesting that it requires a closer look.

Kathryn Hayes, a family court judge in Brattleboro, said five other
communities in Vermont, including Bennington and Rutland, have or are in
the process of establishing drug courts.

Drug courts focus more on treatment and rehabilitation, with jail sentences
hanging in the background as an incentive, rather than immediate
incarceration as punishment, Hayes said.

"It's an attractive model," she said. "It seems more useful that
warehousing people."

People on probation or parole often have to check in with law enforcement
officials, she said, but in a drug court setting the contact with staff and
the regularity of drug testing is increased and often more effective.

She mentioned that last month, Commissioner of Public Safety Kerry Sleeper
recommended the use of education, treatment, drug courts and methadone
clinics to combat the drug problem.

There are numerous formats for drug courts, she added, and some set up a
court separate from the local courts, while others work within the system
and require little or no additional costs.

Such courts may require an initial investment -- although there is federal
money available in the form of grants -- but the cost savings in the future
are realized because the courts don't see the same offenders come through
again and again, Hayes explained.

Drug courts typically have a failure rate of approximately 18 percent, she
said, compared to the traditional court system of between 40 and 60
percent. Over a 30-month period, the drug court can result in a $5,000
savings per drug court participant, according to a recent study.

"When someone gets to a criminal court, we usually see them at the end of
their tether and our function is to be the bottom they are hitting," said
Hayes. "With a drug court, we become a trampoline."

The town of Brattleboro would have no authority to organize a drug court,
said Hayes, although a show of support from the selectboard to the state
would go a long way to its establishment. First, she said, the state's
attorney and public defender need to be brought in on the plan.

The recommendations also suggest the appointment or hiring of a coordinator
to work with the 22 agencies addressing drug-related problems. Many groups
are working on prevention, intervention, treatment and enforcement, but
there is no coordination of these activities at the town level, said drug
committee Chairman Michael Szostak.

"Without someone working with all these groups and communicating to the
town, we don't have the slightest chance of addressing the drug problem,"
he said.

Other recommendations include holding town-sponsored forums in various
neighborhoods to gather information and hear residents' concerns;
establishing an anonymous tip line to report drug-related activity; and
review, update and enforce town ordinances such as nuisance abatement and
curfews.

The landlords in town especially need support in the fight to get suspected
drug-dealing tenants out of their buildings, said committee member Joseph
Pieciak.

"Just look at the loss of rent ... sometimes it takes between $1,500 and
2,000 just to get them out and somebody else in," Pieciak said. "And then
they become someone else's problem."