SOME ADDICTS FIND TREATMENT THROUGH DRUG COURT

For some addicts, the first time they consider treatment is when they are
facing a judge. Drug abuse has a big effect on the community. Fifty to 75
percent of theft and property crimes are related to drug abuse, Douglas B.
Marlowe said. Marlowe is director of the Section on Criminal Justice
Research at the Treatment Research Institute at the University of
Pennsylvania. State law now requires that anyone who is arrested because of
a drug-or alcohol-related offense be sent to the Court Referral Office,
which can order them to treatment. Another option being used by many
counties is drug court. The program allows some people who are arrested on
felony drug-related offenses to plead guilty and enter a treatment program.
The defendant must pass random drug tests, pay court costs and stay out of
trouble for the duration of the treatment. If he successfully completes the
program, the charge could be dismissed. Drug court is aimed at solving the
underlying problem of drug addictions that are sometimes the cause of other
crimes, such as thefts and forgeries. "Historically, drug policy in the
United States has vacillated in a pendulum-like manner between viewing drug
abuse either as a public safety concern requiring a punitive correctional
response or as a public health concern requiring a treatment-oriented
response," Marlowe said in "Effective Strategies for Intervening with Drug
Abusing Offenders," an article in the Villanova Law Review. "Neither of
these single-minded approaches has produced meaningful or consistent
reductions in drug use or criminal recidivism among offenders." Recidivism
is a relapse into criminal behavior.

"The only strategy that has produced meaningful or consistent reductions in
criminal recidivism and drug use is an integrated public health/public
safety strategy exemplified in such programs as drug courts and
work-release therapeutic communities," Marlowe said. "These programs
combine community-based substance abuse treatment and case management
services with ongoing criminal justice supervision, urinalysis monitoring,
graduated sanctions for program infractions and a realistic threat of a
criminal conviction, incarceration or return-to-custody if the offender
does not demonstrably succeed in treatment." Marshall County's drug court
program started in January 1999. The county has drug courts for both adult
and juveniles and is considering starting a dependency drug court to put
families back together by helping parents get treatment for addiction while
keeping children safe. "I am pro-drug court absolutely," Marshall County
District Attorney Steve Marshall said. "I think it saves us money and makes
us safer. "We hope solving the addiction problem will prevent crime from
occurring in the future." The judge is more involved with the defendant in
drug court than in regular court. "Here one of the things you get from the
court is a pat on the back if you're fully compliant for the month,"
Marshall said. "The judge becomes somewhat of a cheerleader. "Part of the
premise of criminal drug court is uniformity. If you fail a drug test, you
get the same punishment everyone else gets. You have a standard set of
sanctions," Marshall said. Etowah County District Attorney James Hedgspeth
said the county's drug court, established about 18 months ago, seems to be
doing well. "I think it could be even more (of an asset) if it were
utilized more, but we can't bring people into it," Hedgspeth said. "They've
got to come and ask. "There is a fee to offset the cost," Hedgspeth said.
"They say, 'I can't pay; I'm indigent.' Well, I'm sorry. These people had
the money to go buy drugs, so they ought to be able to pay the cost of the
program." DeKalb County has had 250 defendants in its adult drug court,
including the ones who are currently participating, since its beginning in
April 1999. So far 64 have graduated from the 12- to 18-month program. Only
42 have failed to complete the program, and none of the ones who have
graduated have returned to criminal behavior, DeKalb County District
Attorney Mike O'Dell said. He knows that zero recidivism rate won't last
forever. "If these had gone to prison, that would be a minimum of $15,000
per year just to feed and house them," O'Dell said. "Not only that, but we
have the impact on the community of them going back as law-abiding,
productive citizens. "I have personally found that employers are eager to
hire drug court graduates because of the intensive nature of the program,"
he said. So far funding hasn't been available to start a juvenile drug
court in DeKalb County or to start an adult program in Cherokee County,
also part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit under O'Dell's jurisdiction. The
adult drug court grant ran out last year, but state legislators got funding
to keep it going another year, and O'Dell said he has been able to get a
funding base together to keep the program, in which so many officials have
established a stake, running in the future. One of the factors that makes
drug court work is the intense interest everybody involved in the program
takes in the defendants, from the judges to treatment professionals to drug
court administrators. "These individuals know they're just not in a
program, they're in a life-changing opportunity here," O'Dell said. "There
are people who care for them and are willing to go to bat for them as long
as they do their part."