Pubdate: Wed, 14 May 2003 Source: Savannah Morning News (GA) Copyright: 2003 Savannah Morning News Contact: http://www.savannahnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/401 Author: Doug Gross, Savannah Morning News Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) DRUG CZAR PRAISES, PUSHES DRUG COURTS ATLANTA -- The nation's drug czar Tuesday praised Georgia's burgeoning drug-court system and pushed for an expansion of the programs, which offer treatment instead of jail time for drug users. "Drug courts are the places where miracles happen -- where people who suffer, and cause other people to suffer, are brought together with the help they need," said John Walters, director of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy. The Atlanta visit kicked off a 25-city tour for Walters, who hopes to raise awareness about what he calls the benefits of the drug court system. Separate drug courts give judges the ability to prescribe supervised treatment, counseling, drug testing and other social services, instead of jail time, to usually non-violent drug offenders. Georgia's first drug court was established in 1994 in Macon. Currently, the state has 23 drug courts -- 13 for adult felony users, three for adult misdemeanor cases and seven for juvenile drug offenses. The system gained renewed interest in January, when Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher called for more programs and a better system of tracking defendants who go through the courts. "We in Georgia are very convinced that the way to turn around people's lives who have addictions is through the implementation of drug courts," said Fletcher, who met with Walters on Tuesday morning. No comprehensive national statistics exist for the success rate of drug courts -- one of the reasons Fletcher called for a more comprehensive accountability and evaluation system. But Walters said some courts have reported success rates of 60-80 percent among defendants who successfully complete rehabilitation programs, compared to 10-20 percent success rates for drug offenders who are incarcerated. State Court Judge Kent Lawrence of Athens presides over a court for repeat DUI offenders and misdemeanor drug defendants. His sentences often include job training, counseling and drug tests instead of jail time "In 30 years I've been part of the legal system, drug courts are the only things I've seen that really work," said Lawrence, who spent time as a police officer and prosecutor before becoming a judge. Lawrence said incarcerating a drug offender costs about $48 a day, compared to $29 a week for his rehab program. And he said the rate of defendants who return to court after completing the program is far lower than the percentage of those who return after being in prison. "We have really missed the mark over the years thinking that simply putting people in jail was going to fix their problems," he said. Leslie Baker, 54, of Atlanta says she's living proof that the drug courts work. She said she spiraled from owning her own business to working as a prostitute because of a drug addiction she couldn't kick until being sentenced to treatment in the Fulton County drug court. "It has given me back a new life -- something I never had," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake