INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUE

Cocaine and heroin addicts in Surrey may soon get a new chance to kick their
habit.

Surrey's Drug-Crime Task Force is exploring the concept of establishing a
drug treatment court.

A similar court is currently operating in Vancouver, in partnership with the
two senior levels of government, and the Drug-Crime Task Force, impressed
with Vancouver's results, wants to establish such a court in this city,
which has its share of problems associated with drugs.

The proposal is among several recommendations made in a draft report by the
Drug-Crime Task Force struck by Mayor Doug McCallum a couple of years ago.
The committee's mandate is to come up with solutions to clean up the city's
streets and the growing drug problem tarnishing Surrey's image.

The report still needs council's approval - it's expected to go to council
for debate before the Christmas break - but Coun. Dianne Watts, the task
force's chairwoman, has already started to champion the idea of a drug
treatment court.

The Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver, a partnership between the three
levels of government, opened in December 2001 with $1.7 million in funding
from the National Crime Prevention Centre, which was launched in 1998 by the
federal government as part of its safe communities and crime prevention
strategy.

The project is midway through its four-year trial run and according to
senior officials associated with the program, the preliminary data suggests
the court is a success.

The Drug Court of Vancouver is meant as an alternative to the regular
criminal court process for people who commit offences because of their drug
habit.

The participants, who must consent to take part in the program and agree to
plead guilty to their drug offence, undergo supervised drug addiction
treatment for about one year. The process includes a whole cadre of staff,
including a doctor who specializes in drug addiction and staffers who help
the addicts find jobs and places to live.

Their progress is monitored by the court and successful candidates - those
who have found stable homes and jobs or are taking job training - get to
"graduate" from the program. Their charges are either stayed or they get a
non-custodial sentence.

Critics might view the drug treatment court as just more coddling of
criminals. But bear in mind that people responsible for property crime and
offences against children aren't eligible. Those who want to remain in the
program have to follow the rules and submit to random urine testing.

According to a 1998 American study, drug treatment courts have been
successful in getting addicts to sign up. Drug court graduates exhibit less
criminal behaviour than before their treatment and the program saves money
since treatment is cheaper than prison.

With its focus on treatment rather than punishment, drug treatment courts
are a practical and more realistic approach to dealing with one segment of
the city's drug addicts.