Drug Courts Work

Drug Courts Work

Rep. Boozman's Guest Column for the Week of May 15, 2006

Four Arkansas residents recently got a new lease on life when they graduated from the Sebastian County Drug Court earlier this month. I was on hand to congratulate them during their graduation, which was combined with a ceremony marking the twelve-year anniversary of drug courts.

For the graduates, the ceremony marked the completion of a rigorous year-long program that included drug treatment, counseling and intense supervision to ensure that they were becoming responsible citizens in their communities. For the 753 drug courts around the country, the ceremony marked twelve years of significantly reducing the rate of recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent adult and juvenile substance-abusing offenders.

If you've read my columns in the past, you know that I have often used this space to highlight the growing role of drug courts in helping to rehabilitate drug addicts. They are an essential part of what I call the "three-pronged approach" to fighting drugs in our communities - education or demand reduction, strong punishments for offenders and rehabilitation of addicts. This three-pronged approach reflects a balanced, proactive policy that encourages people not to use drugs and gives addicts a chance to change their lives.

Drug courts are an addicts' best chance to change. They effectively integrate substance abuse treatment, mandatory drug testing, sanctions, incentives and transitional services in a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders. This unique approach creates a balance of authority, supervision, support and encouragement, which are all critical to an addict's recovery.

The way the program works is that the offender is offered the opportunity to avoid prison in exchange for a commitment to the program that sets them on a path of personal responsibility and dedication to the community. The drug court program is rigorous and demanding. It requires frequent drug testing and court appearances combined with an intensive treatment and recovery program. Drug court participants must maintain gainful employment and participate in 12-Step or other self help groups. The program requires complete dedication to getting clean or the offender risks jail time if he or she fails to comply with the program.

The successes of Third District drug courts have proven that the program is an effective alternative to incarceration. Our local drug courts are intense and, because of that, they set participants on a path to becoming productive members of our community. Their approach should provide a blueprint for drug courts across the nation. For this reason, I have worked in Washington to strengthen and improve the federal program that funds drug courts.

I authored a provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill that will empower the U.S. Attorney General to create specific guidelines for testing; ensure that testing is as accurate as possible; and require immediate and dramatic punitive sanctions and/or therapeutic measures when a participant fails a drug test. The goal is to create uniformity in the drug testing policy, which will refocus drug courts across the nation on actual rehabilitation rates, rather than simply on re-arrest rates. That bill was signed into law last March.

The same month that my efforts to strengthen drug court testing guidelines became law, I successfully attached an amendment that helps promote drug courts to the "Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act." My amendment would require the ONDCP to study the idea of providing incentives for drug courts to educate students and the community regarding the seriousness of the nation's drug problems, including the methamphetamine epidemic. Inspired by Washington County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ann Gunn, the bill encourages drug court judges to hold their hearings in public places. Judge Gunn has gone to great lengths to educate the public about the dangers of drug abuse by using non-traditional methods such as holding her court in local schools providing teenagers with a glimpse into the damaging effects that drugs can have had on many people's life. When operated in this manner, drug courts not only act as a way to rehabilitate, but also as a great educational tool.

As your representative in Congress, I will continue to seek avenues to strengthen and promote drug courts because they are changing lives for the better right in our backyards. The ceremony in Sebastian County earlier this month is evidence of that fact. I will continue to draw attention to the good work they and other drug courts in the Third District are doing and we will continue to encourage communities across the country to look at the important role drug courts play in the "three-pronged approach" to fighting drugs.

http://www.boozman.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=43713