Cindy West
The Gadsden Times

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."