DRUG COURT HAS FIRST GRAD CLASS

Several former drug-addicted street dealers are set to graduate from the
city's fledgling drug court program in January, but the cop in charge of
policing for the West Side wonders when non-dealing addicts will be
admitted into the program.

Currently, the drug court program-which celebrates its first-year
anniversary today-caters only to small-time cocaine and heroin dealers who
are also addicted to drugs, leaving the addict charged with possession to
go through the regular court system.

Many addicts receive sentences of less than a year or no jail time at all,
sending them back to the street to commit more crime to feed their
expensive and dangerous habits, said Insp. Jim Chu, whose area of coverage
runs west of Main Street and south of False Creek.

"A high proportion of our property crime is driven by addicts, and if the
courts don't jail the offender and if we don't treat the offender, then the
addict is going to still commit the property crimes."

Many times, when police capture an addict for committing a crime, the
addict will say he wants help-to which Chu says, "We agree, but there's
nothing we can do for you."

With insufficient treatment facilities, police are left chasing criminals
such as the 46-year-old cocaine addict currently suspected of 25 burglaries
on the West Side. The man, now serving an eight-month sentence for six
burglaries, has collected 95 break-and-enter convictions across Canada
since 1972.

Police have DNA evidence from several businesses and houses suspected of
matching the convict, but Chu said the DNA-testing lab cannot return
results for about two years because homicide and sexual assault cases have
priority. The burglaries have occurred during the day and night, even when
people are at home. The man travels on foot and steals whatever he can
carry, usually electronic equipment, Chu said.

The stiffest penalty imposed on the man was six years in Winnipeg in 1991
for two counts of theft and two counts of break-and-enter. Since then, his
sentences have gotten shorter, said Chu.

"He's a career criminal and he will keep committing crime unless he stays
in jail or quits his addiction."

While David MacIntyre, the drug court's program director, understands Chu's
frustration, he noted the pilot project is only a year old and is aimed
specifically at small-time dealers. It could be expanded depending on the
results of an evaluation.

Currently, 61 dealers are enrolled in the program-the second court of its
kind in Canada, after Toronto-although 21 have been temporarily suspended
for failing to adhere to the conditions.

MacIntyre said he and other drug court workers, including Judge Jane
Godfrey, are still determining criteria for graduation and couldn't provide
an exact number of how many people will graduate in mid-January.

Although 43 addicts have been booted out for failing to show up for
treatment, MacIntyre said others have been drug-free for several months,
have found housing and have even gone to community college. The program
requires participants to undergo weekly random urine tests, take methadone,
participate in group counselling, abide by a curfew and keep away from the
notorious drug-dealing corner at Main and Hastings.

"A lot of these folks would never have gone to treatment without the
support of the drug court, so it's really rewarding to see them coming back
to court clean and moving on with their lives," MacIntyre said.