Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2014
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2014 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: James Turner
Page: A3

COURT FOR DRUG ADDICTS AT RISK

Program lauded for saving tax dollars

THE future of Winnipeg's drug treatment court is in jeopardy due to a
lack of stable funding and friction over which level of government
should control the long-running program, the Free Press has learned.

As of May 1, the drug court stopped accepting new applications from
offenders because there's no guarantee its annual funding will be
there as of April 1, 2015, justice sources confirmed Monday.

The federal government is tired of funding the drug court without a
commitment by the Manitoba government to take it over in the long
term, sources said.

The drug court is in it's ninth year but still has pilot-project
status.

The federal government provides about $500,000 a year to the
Addictions Foundation of Manitoba to fund the program.

The province, the courts, Justice Canada and Legal Aid Manitoba
provide in-kind services such as lawyers, probation officers and
counsellors necessary for the drug court's work of supporting
long-term rehabilitation of offenders.

Clients are carefully screened and they sign a waiver of their trial
rights after being accepted into the program.

They're released on strict conditions to commit to a treatment plan,
which includes drug-testing, counselling and frequent court
appearances to keep the judge up to speed on their progress.

They also have access to community supports in an effort to end the
cycle of crime prompted by their drug habits.

The recent decision to stop accepting new applicants was made when it
became clear clients' prospects of graduating were in doubt, sources
said.

Justice officials and defence lawyers are anxious about the
situation.

They suggest losing the drug court may lead to massive spikes in jail
and other justice costs and put additional pressure on the system.

Offenders whose crimes are fuelled by addictions will end up in the
regular court system.

Because of that, there's no alternative for them but to be exposed to
mandatory minimum jail terms recently brought in by the federal
government for certain drug crimes.

"The program may be stopping, but the addictions are not," said one
justice source familiar with the drug court's workings but who isn't
authorized to speak publicly.

Defence lawyer Michael Dyck agreed incarceration rates and costs would
rise with the drug court's demise.

"There's going to be more people in custody on remand status, more in
custody serving sentences," Dyck said.

It costs about $117,000 a year to incarcerate a federal offender,
Statistics Canada data show.

If the 70 people who have graduated from the drug court since January
2006 had instead been put behind bars for a year, the cost skyrockets
- - at minimum - to more than $8 million.

That figure far outstrips the total of annual funding provided for the
drug court.

As well, many prospective drug court offenders would likely receive
sentences longer than a year.

That's not counting the fact the program's recidivism rate is only
about 16 per cent, sources said, meaning spinoff savings from the drug
court help reduce justice costs over the long term.

"This compares favourably to Manitoba reoffence rates for offenders on
probation (28 per cent), conditional sentences (32 per cent) or
assigned provincial custody (66 per cent)," University of Winnipeg
researchers found in conducting an evaluation of the drug court for
2012-2013.

The research also found recidivism was lower even among those who did
not graduate from the drug court.

Dyck said there are other drawbacks to consider if the drug court
ends.

One, he said, would be additional pressure placed on existing
community-based resources for addicts.

Waiting lists would grow based on additional need, as would the number
of people waiting in custody for treatment, Dyck said.

Public safety would be at risk because addicts would have access to
one less resource.

"For the most part, addicts are passive and looking for quick money,"
said Dyck.

"As they get desperate, they start taking more risks, and they start
resorting to more violent offending - and that's where public safety
comes in," he said.

"Discussions between officials at the Manitoba Department of Justice
and Justice Canada on this issue are ongoing," federal Justice
Minister Peter MacKay's office said when approached for comment.

- --------------------------------

[sidebar]

Who are the clients?

Average age is 30

61 per cent are men

70 per cent are single and unemployed when they start

Just over 50 per cent have a better than Grade 11 education

Drug trafficking is the typical charge clients face, at 46 per
cent

The great majority of clients have criminal records, at 86 per
cent.

The primary drug of choice for clients is cocaine, at 57 per cent,
with crystal meth coming second at 20 per cent.

- -- source: 2013 Winnipeg drug treatment court evaluation by University
of Winnipeg criminologist Michael Weinrath and honours student Zachary
Allard
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt