Pubdate: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2000 The Calgary Sun Contact: 2615 12 Street N.E., Calgary, Alberta T2E 7W9 Fax: (403) 250-4180 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html Author: Ethan Baron CALGARY EYED FOR DRUG COURT Taxpayers will reap the rewards when the federal government sets up special drug courts for addicts, a federal prosecutor says. Ottawa plans to expand a Toronto pilot project across the nation, putting drug courts in Canada's major cities by 2004. "You not only improve public safety but you also come up with savings for law enforcement and health care," said Kofi Barnes, the federal prosecutor who founded the Toronto Drug Treatment Court. The court, set up and run for two years for $1.6 million, tries drug addicts caught with cocaine or heroin, diverting them into treatment programs and connecting them with social and health services. Expanding the project is intended to cut property crime and get addicts treated, said Justice Department spokesman Peter Schnobb. Federal officials won't name which cities will get the courts, but McLellan specified "major cities," likely including Calgary. "Probably it would be good for a good number of people," said Lynn McLean, treatment supervisor at Calgary's Renfrew Recovery Centre, a drug-treatment facility. But McLean believes the courts should stick to addicts caught possessing drugs for personal use. "We can't excuse destructive behaviour or crimes against persons be-cause someone has an addiction." Calgary Northeast MP Art Hanger called the Liberal plan "a weak approach." Special jails for abusers would keep them out of drug-oriented environments, he said. "There has to be a period of incarceration -- what they need is a dedicated jail to keep drug abusers in where they're almost shocked back into reality," Hanger said. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart