Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jan 2004
Source: Bolivar Commercial, The (MS)
Copyright: 2004 The Bolivar Commercial, a division of Cleveland Newspapers,
Inc
Contact:  http://www.bolivarcom.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1775
Author: Robert Wells
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

DRUG COURT TRIES TO HELP ADDICTS CHANGE LIFESTYLE

After years of throwing the book at drug addicts, judges are now
throwing them a lifeline, according to a panel of four members of the
Bolivar County Drug Court who spoke before the Cleveland Exchange Club
on Thursday.

"Judges realize that the old process of incarceration and more
incarceration is not working," said Becky Cochran, co-coordinator of
the drug court program and part of the panel that met yesterday at the
Cleveland Country Club.

Bolivar County's drug court began in September 2003 under the
direction of Circuit Court Judge Albert Smith III as a way to help
local addicts recover and as a way to reduce the amount of non-violent
offenders in the already overcrowded and underfinanced prison system.

Charles Thornburg, a drug counselor for the team and a panel member
stressed that many drug addicts are good people who have made bad decisions.

He noted a recent meeting with a local, 16-year-old high school
student as an example.

Thornburg said the young lady had recently scored a 33 on her ACT, yet
she was using methamphetamines.

"She scored high enough to get into Harvard," Thornburg said. "But if
her behavior doesn't change, then she will be in a house where the
police kick her door down."

The drug counselor said he often sees cases such as these where people
are throwing their futures away.

And despite the old consensus that long-term prison sentences are the
appropriate punishment for addicts, Thornburg asked the community to
reevaluate their thought processes on the subject, like in the
instance of the young lady he described.

"Is the community gonna come down and do something positive to save
this woman's life or look at her as someone who time has passed by due
to bad choices?" Thornburg asked.

A positive step the community can take to help local drug addicts is
to support the Bolivar County Drug Court, according to panel member
Raymond Wong.

Wong, who is a public defender on the drug court team, said, for
example, community members could offer work opportunities to drug
court participants.

"To make it successful, everyone needs to pitch in and help," Wong
said. "Our whole purpose is to get people back into the community."

Leslie Flint, a panel member and a prosecutor for the drug court
program, stated another way the program can help participants re-enter
society.

She said addicts, facing felony convictions like for shoplifting, will
have the charges lifted if they complete drug court.

"A felony conviction can follow you all your life," Flint reminded the
audience.

According to Cochran, there are currently five participants in the
Bolivar County drug court program. She also said that statistics show
that drug courts help keep participants active in society by
preventing them from ever relapsing.

Wong said the program, which takes about a year to complete, is not
easy or cheap.

He said police can enter and search the home of a drug court
participant at any time without a warrant. Wong also said participants
are under constant supervision by the law and must meet with the drug
court twice a month.

Participants are also drug tested twice a month as well as
randomly.

"It's not a cakewalk through drug court," Wong said in an earlier
interview. "The sword of Damocles is over your head."

The public defender said each drug court meeting costs $10 and that
participants must pay $100 to enter the program and not more than $200
to exit the program.

Getting into the program is not easy either, according to
Wong.

He said potential participants must go through an intensive screening
process to make sure they are not violent offenders nor drug dealers
and to make sure they are likely to successfully complete drug court.

Cleveland resident and Exchange Club member Jack Fletcher attended the
panel discussion and said he was pleased with the drug court program.

"I think it's a very good thing that there is a mechanism through
which people with a problem can be given the incentive and the support
to start to straighten their lives up," Fletcher said. "Without the
drug court system it would be almost impossible."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin