Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005
Source: Ledger, The (FL)
Copyright: 2005 The Ledger
Contact:  http://www.theledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/795
Author: Curt Anderson, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

FEDS PUSH TO EXPAND DRUG COURT SYSTEM

MIAMI (AP)-- Expanding drug courts that divert nonviolent offenders from 
prison to treatment and boosting random drug testing of high school 
students are among the initiatives that could cut long-term demand for 
illegal drugs in the United States, drug czar John Walters said Wednesday.

"Drug use is a preventable illness," Walters said in an interview with The 
Associated Press. "It's about allowing those who are at risk to get help 
early."

Walters, in Miami to release President Bush's 2005 drug control strategy, 
said intervention in the lives of drug abusers was a key element along with 
treatment programs and aggressive law enforcement efforts, including 
interdiction of drug shipments and eradication of coca fields in South 
America and poppy farms in Afghanistan.

"We know the things that work, and we want to use that knowledge to expand 
them," said Walters, director of the White House's drug control policy office.

Bush is asking Congress for an increase of $30.5 million for more drug 
courts, which allow judges to place thousands of nonviolent drug offenders 
in treatment programs rather than hard time in prison. There are now about 
1,600 such courts in all 50 states.

In Miami's drug court alone -- the nation's first in 1989 -- more than 
10,000 people have "graduated," with only about 4.3 percent committing new 
crimes.

Walters announced the president's drug strategy in the Miami drug court run 
by Judge Jeffrey Rosinek, who conducted court proceedings before Walters 
spoke. Rosinek closely questioned one defendant about why he had failed a 
required drug test, expressing skepticism about the man's reasons for 
taking illegal barbiturates.

"You took a barbiturate for a toothache? Was that a doctor-ordered 
barbiturate?" Rosinek asked before giving the man another chance to avoid 
prison by staying clean for one month and attending Narcotics Anonymous 
sessions.

Like the drug courts, Walters said Bush's proposed $25.4 million for random 
drug testing at high schools that voluntarily decided to test would help 
deter young people from drugs before they become addicts or turn to crimes 
to support their habits.

"We know when we intervene early, we can have maximum impact," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom