Pubdate: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Copyright: 2015 The Hamilton Spectator Contact: http://www.thespec.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181 Author: Susan Clairmont Page: A1 DRUG TREATMENT COURT IS PROOF PEOPLE CARE 'Jack' was on the right track until he slipped up. But a kind judge has faith in him On his lunch hour, Jack hustles to the courthouse to get his gold star from the judge. He's had a drug free week and the accomplishment is met with a star for his journal and a round of applause from Justice Marjoh Agro and all the lawyers, police, addiction experts and clients in the room. They smile and greet each other with the familiarity of people who meet at the same time, in the same place, every week. Jack is not his real name. Some people in his life now do not know about his past. A year ago, Jack stepped into this court for the first time. He was 30 pounds underweight. His skin sallow, his eyes sunken. He looked older than his 38 years. A hard-core addiction to heroin and pills will do that. It was opening day of Hamilton's brand new Drug Treatment Court (DTC). He was among a small group of offenders given the chance to accept treatment as their sentence. Jack faced theft charges and breaches after shoplifting electronics in Hamilton and Halton so he could feed his drug habit. He was facing a year in jail. When he called his lawyer, Beth Bromberg, he was desperate to get out. Jack also wanted to get clean. As it happened, Bromberg was one of the architects of the long-awaited DTC. DTC is intended to deal with the root causes of addiction and is an option for addicted, adults with non-violent charges. If they are accepted into the program they must plead guilty and enter into a strict treatment regimen that includes weekly court appearances, community service hours and urine tests. Once they are clean for six months, have stability in their life and a plan to work, go to school or volunteer, they can graduate. There are currently 10 clients in the DTC program. Over the year, four clients have been expelled. Another three have withdrawn. As Jack says: "There's no question jail time would have been easier." So far, there are no graduates, although one client is eligible next month. Jack was on track to be one of the first to graduate. Then he relapsed. He had used "recreational drugs" growing up, but upped to heroin when he was 28 and living in the UK. A trained sommelier (and yes, he is also an alcoholic), Jack was working abroad when drugs "took over my life." He came back home to Hamilton and started shoplifting. He racked up convictions and breaches, "one after another after another." His sentences were getting longer, "the judges were starting to get sick of me and I was killing myself. I'd had enough." In 2009 he got clean. He worked as a builder, did "lots of 12-step work" and met his future wife. "There was a huge stretch where my life was fantastic." Until he got complacent. He started skipping meetings and working longer hours to pay for the wedding. "I let it go. I stopped treating my disease." By December 2013, when he called Bromberg from the Barton Street jail, he was in a deep hole. He wanted DTC. He'd got clean once, he believed he could do it again. He was accepted into the program and it gave him the structure and accountability he needed to get clean again. For a while he was, as the judge put it, "the shining star" of the program. A role model for the newer clients. He had gold stars for five and a half months, earning back some freedom from the court. Then he used. "The accountability was turned down a little bit as the weening happened," says Bromberg. For Jack, going in front of Agro after testing positive for drugs was a moment of spectacular "shame and guilt." He was placed on house arrest and an expulsion hearing was scheduled. Jack thought he had failed. Bromberg sees it differently: "He'd been clean for nearly six months." It was up to Jack and the DTC team to figure out what went wrong. The team surrounded Jack, picked him up and now he's been clean again for more than two months. He has discovered yoga (it's now a DTC requirement) and looks forward to graduating. "I like Justice Agro. You create that rapport with her. I think she wants me to get well. And," he laughs, "I think she wants me the hell out of her courtroom." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt