DRUG COURT AIMS TO HELP ADDICTS, NOT PUNISH THEM

Macomb Judges Seek To Be A Direct Part Of Treatment Process

Alan Dale McBride, 31, hated crack cocaine, but his addiction made him do
just about anything for it.

According to court documents, he broke into his neighbor's house and stole
from his family to support his addiction, prompting Macomb County Circuit
Judge Deborah Servitto to give him a 29-month jail sentence last month.

But Servitto said jail time might not be the best way to help McBride, or to
reduce the county's crime rate. So she and a handful of Macomb County court
officials are developing a court they say will reduce the county's
80-percent recidivism rate and help keep defendants like McBride out of the
court system.

The court, which the county plans to open in January, would handle adults
who are repeat substance abusers. Such courts exist in Oakland and Wayne
counties.

"We kept seeing the same faces whether they are sent to jail or are put on
probation," said Servitto, who is leading the effort in Macomb along with
Judge Pat Donofrio. "We knew that something had to happen."

Drug-treatment courts combine the judicial process with a long-term
treatment program. Instead of sending defendants to jail or an independent
intervention program, judges become directly involved in their recovery.

They meet with the defendant regularly, usually weekly. During those
meetings, the judges are joined by graduates of the program who volunteer
their time to encourage participants to stay with the program. The judge
asks about the defendant's progress in the program and in their lives.
Everyone in the judge's chambers applauds when participants have a
successful week.

"It requires judges to become psychologists," said Duke University
pharmacology professor Wilkie Wilson, who has written about drug courts and
helped North Carolina develop its system.

This type of court is sweeping the nation as the newest means to treat
repeat drug offenders. Officials began considering the courts in the 1980s,
when repeat drug offenders like McBride began crowding jails.

McBride's mother, Tiney McBride, 61, of St. Clair Shores, said his repeated
trips to jail haven't "done anything in years."

According to the Justice Department, more than 74,000 people nationwide have
graduated from drug courts. And the recidivism rates for each jurisdiction
vary from 2 to 24 percent, compared with a national average of 75 percent,
according to the department.

Visiting Oakland County Circuit Judge David Breck came out of retirement to
run that county's drug court, where 11 participants enrolled in the 18-month
program. Among them is a 45-year-old man whose drug habit cost him about
$500 a day.

"Imagine the amount of crime he committed to support that habit," Breck
said.

Macomb County officials plan to apply for federal funding for the court. In
2000, the county applied for a 3-year grant of $488,471 in federal funding
for the court and approved $162,826 more in county funds. But the county did
not receive that funding.

Macomb County judges Servitto and Donofrio are traveling to similar courts
in Dallas, Los Angeles and Jacksonville, Fla., to determine how the county's
court would work. They are also learning about topics like pharmacology so
that they can best counsel the participants.

Among the program's national critics are county prosecutors who say the
court intervention is a means for jurisdictions to soften the laws. But
Macomb County prosecutor Carl Marlinga said he embraces the program.

"The individual is saved . . . and the rest of us are saved from the crimes
they commit," he said.