MAINTAINING DRUG COURT A NO-BRAINER

Before the General Assembly kills the Richmond Adult Drug Court program,
perhaps it should hear from people like Maureen Pullian.

"Drug Court may not mean anything to you, but to me it's given me another
chance at life," Pullian wrote.

"See if it was not for Drug Court, I just may have been dead."

Richmond Adult Drug Court, which is housed in a suite above the food court
at the Sixth Street Marketplace, may fall victim to a cash-strapped state
budget.

The General Assembly is considering cuts that could eliminate funding for
the Richmond Adult Drug Court and 13 similar programs statewide. Hence the
letter-writing campaign by participants like Pullian.

Richmond Adult Drug Court is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment
program for nonviolent felony offenders. No drug dealers are allowed. Also
barred are people with mental-health problems.

It seeks to point its participants toward a drug-free lifestyle, enhanced
job prospects and self-sufficiency.

In various sessions, participants hold discussions, watch movies, hear
lectures and receive acupuncture, which can ease withdrawal symptoms,
according to studies.

"We try to use a holistic approach and help them with all their problems,"
said Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer, who presides over the program.

Richmond Adult Drug Court is funded with a $325,000 state grant.

The state money covers all aspects of the program except for the detectives
it uses. They are funded with a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant of
$36,000 annually.

From September 2000 to February 2002, Richmond's program had 95 referrals
and 17 graduates. Sixty-one are currently enrolled.

Over that period, the program performed 2,825 drug tests; only 74 were
positive. To graduate, a participant must have at least 120 continuous
sober or "clean" days.

Participants receive sanctions for missed meetings, positive drug tests,
missed treatments and failures to attend court. Sanctions range from
presenting a paper to performing community service to jail time to
termination from the program.

Among its alumni is Ernest Sukens Jr., who has moved from addiction to his
own auto detailing business.

"It played a big, important role in my life," he said of the program,
"'cause Judge Spencer could have given me those five years and she chose
not to."

To not fund the program, Sukens says, is to help perpetuate a cycle of drug
abuse.

Cutting drug treatment money carries little political risk. After all, the
people affected by such decisions are not particularly vocal, said J.
Michael Hanrahan, a substance abuse clinician with the program.

"I think when people get to the place of having to make decisions about
cutting funding, they're going to cut where the voices are quietest," he said.

But before the General Assembly decides to wield its budget ax in the
direction of drug treatment, it should consider the following figures:

The average cost of incarcerating each individual in Virginia is $39,600.

The average cost for participating in the Richmond Adult Drug Court is
about $4,000 per year.