Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Author: Philip P. Pan
Pubdate: Thurs, Jan 14, 1999
Page M01

DRUG TESTING EXPANDS

State targets more ex-offenders

Nearly 6,200 criminals released on parole and probation in Maryland have
been ordered to report to authorities twice a week for urine tests as part
of a landmark attempt to overhaul how the state supervises drug-addicted
ex-offenders, according to state officials.

The figure is more than five times higher than it was just two months ago--a
sign that the state's ambitious Break the Cycle program is expanding
rapidly. Under the plan, all 25,000 drug addicts on parole and probation in
Maryland eventually will be required to undergo treatment and frequent
testing--and face swift, escalating punishments if they skip a treatment
session or test positive for drug use.

No other state has tried to hold its entire population of drug-addicted

parolees and probationers accountable to such a frequent regimen of testing,
and Maryland's attempt to do so is being watched by criminal justice
policymakers across the nation.

The enterprise faces a range of obstacles, particularly if large numbers of
ex-offenders test positive and the state is unable to punish them
effectively. But if it succeeds, proponents such as Lt. Gov. Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend (D) believe it could cut demand for heroin, cocaine and
other drugs in the state nearly in half--undermining the illicit drug
markets that fuel crime and violence in many neighborhoods.

In addition, Townsend and others say, the program could wean thousands of
addicts off drugs and bring about sharp reductions in the kinds of low-level
crimes that drug offenders are known to commit repeatedly, such as
burglaries, thefts, vandalism and prostitution.

The testing began slowly this fall in seven jurisdictions: Prince George's,
Montgomery, Howard, Charles, Washington and Baltimore counties and Baltimore
City. As local judges, probation agents, treatment providers and jail
officials worked out the details, the number of ex-offenders ordered into
the program jumped sharply, from about 1,200 in the first week of November
to nearly 6,200 as of last week.

Each jurisdiction has devised its own sanctions for ex-offenders who test
positive for drugs or skip treatment sessions. In Prince George's, for
example, agents will supervise them more closely after the first infraction,
order them to watch court proceedings for two days after the second
infraction and impose community service after the third infraction. Further
violations would result in more severe penalties, such as home detention,
and a seventh violation would put them back in court.

The goal is to use the criminal justice system to force drug addicts to

remain in treatment--a departure from the conventional wisdom that addicts
must "want to change" to kick their habits.

"I've been putting people into Break the Cycle, and I'm optimistic it's
going to make a difference," said William D. Missouri, the Circuit Court
administrative judge in Prince George's. "But I probably won't have a good
sense of the results until the beginning of February."

Though testing of ex-offenders is well underway in the seven jurisdictions
and is set to expand to the rest of the state by the end of the year, it's
unclear whether they are being punished quickly or severely enough to change
their behavior.

"We're still far from where we want to be," said Adam Gelb, Townsend's
policy adviser. "The sanctions are not as swift, as certain or as stiff as
we'd like to see them, but we are clearly moving in the right direction."

Leonard Sipes, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services, said the state has not yet determined how often
ex-offenders are failing the drug tests, how they are being punished when
they do so or how many of them are completing treatment programs.

He said the greatest obstacle will be trying to force probation agents to
act quickly when an ex-offender fails a drug test or misses a treatment
appointment. In the past, agents rarely learned when ex-offenders dropped
out of treatment, and they could order only seven urine tests a month for
their entire caseloads, which average more than 100 ex-offenders apiece.

"The challenge is rearranging the culture of parole and probation," Sipes
said. "Remember, the average offender has received very little face-to-face
contact with agents because of the huge caseloads. . . . Now we're trying to
change that for the majority of the active caseload. The bottom line is
whether this department can rally to such an intensive supervision
strategy."

The first hint of how well Break the Cycle is working will come next month,
when University of Maryland criminologist Faye Taxman completes a
preliminary report on the program's progress in the seven jurisdictions.

"The data I have suggest that things are actually moving along pretty
smoothly in each of the jurisdictions, but I'm anticipating different
problems in different places," she said. "We anticipate most of the
jurisdictions will do very well in testing offenders. The question will be,
if offenders continue to test positive, how will the agents and judges
respond?"

Breaking the Cycle

The number of drug addicts released on parole and probation in Maryland

who are now required to take twice-weekly urine tests as part of the state's
new Break the Cycle program has increased five-fold in the past
two months.

As of Nov. 5, 1998
Baltimore County: 138
Baltimore City: 714
Howard: 55
Charles: 35
Prince George's: 102
Montgomery: 81
Washington: 103

Total: 1,228

As of Jan. 7, 1999
Baltimore County: 415
Baltimore City: 4,800
Howard: 265
Charles: 64
Prince George's: 241
Montgomery: 291
Washington: 118

Total: 6,194

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MAP posted-by: Don Beck