Pubdate: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 Source: Monroe County Advocate and Democrat (TN) Contact: 2003 East Tennessee Network. Website: http://www.monroe.xtn.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1864 Author: Melissa Kinton Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) COUNCIL HELPS FORM NEW DRUG COURT MADISONVILLE - The Monroe County Coordinating Council for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment announced during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2 that the process had begun for the county to get an adult drug court. The court would be used for drug related criminal charges and would allow offenders to receive treatment. Judge Carroll Ross is the acting judge for the drug court, which would cover Monroe, McMinn and Polk counties. It is expected to take one year to get the court running. A planning group will meet in January. In school news, council Director Laurie Ashcroft announced she has started a relapse prevention group at Sequoyah High School. She said the group was well attended and seemed to be making a difference. She also said she had received material for "Brain Power" and "Kids on the Block," both educational programs Ashcroft is hoping to implement in Monroe County schools. Two posters have been chosen from the poster contest recently held in the schools and will be placed on billboards around the county. The council recently surveyed 149 students on tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use. Twenty-two percent of ninth graders said they had tried tobacco and/or alcohol five or more times. Seventeen percent have tried marijuana five or more times. When asked about their family, 35 percent said someone in their family used tobacco, 22 percent said someone in their family used alcohol and 12 percent said someone in their family used marijuana. When asked about friends, 28 percent said they had friends who used tobacco, 23 percent said they had friends who used alcohol and 22 percent said they had friends who used marijuana. Ashcroft is currently counseling 61 individuals involved with drugs or alcohol. Although Ashcroft has a master's degree, she is not a licensed counselor so she cannot charge for services. Dr. Barbara Levin suggested the board consider locating an individual to take over some of the cases so they could start charging. The next council meeting will be Jan. 27 at 12:30 p.m. For more information, call Ashcroft at 519- 1160. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom