DRUG COURT TO BE 'TOUGHEST IN EUROPE'

The country's first US-style drug courts will be among the toughest in
Europe, the launch of a pilot project was told yesterday.

Iain Gray, the deputy justice minister, acknowledged that the current
system had failed drug addicts.

He said the two-year pilot in Glasgow, which starts sitting on Monday,
would offer those addicts a new chance to break the "root cause of their
criminality".

Mr Gray said: "Drug courts offer them a way out of the cycle of crime, if
they are ready to take part in a rigorous programme of testing and
treatment. We must be smarter so that we can rebuild and strengthen
communities blighted by drugs."

Those selected for jurisdiction under the new system will undergo a
programme of urine tests, assessment and rehabilitation in a bid to prove
to a dedicated court drug team they are making every effort to stop their
offending.

It is expected that the court, sitting for up to four days a week in the
sheriff court, will handle between 150 and 200 cases every year.

Moira Price, a former Glasgow fiscal who will help co-ordinate the new
court, said: "This is not a soft option - it is one of the most intensive
community-based disposal systems you can get."

From arrest, drug offenders dealt with by the new court will make contact
up to twice a week with workers over a four-week assessment and testing
period, before being given a treatment order of up to three years by a
specially-trained sheriff.

Those considered by the court to be failing the provisions of the order may
face further punishment, and possibly prison.