Drug Court Taught Me How to Live

Drugs have been known to be detrimental to American society. Commonly known as “ The war on drugs”. Majority of individuals who are incarcerated have been convicted of some type of drug offense and if not a drug related crimes. In many instances, a person can be sent to a jail or prison without receiving the required treatment to help the individual overcome their drug of choice. Remarkably, there is a court solely focused on an individual with a drug problem, which is known as Drug courts.

Many different states have begun sending nonviolent drug offenders to various kinds of drug treatment program the state offers. By doing this, it has significantly reduced the problems with overcrowding. If an individual is arrested and charged with simple possession of a drug and no other crime is being commented, then this person is doing no harm to anyone else. They should be given the opportunity to try and make a change in their life and beat the addiction. Instead, if this person is thrown into jail, they are still going to be an addict with a criminal record now and will not be able to be a contributing member of society. (Everett 1 ).

The sixth key component requires that sanctions and rewards be coordinated into the programs to govern responses to participant’s compliance and non-compliance (NADCP, 1997). Some rewards could be praise from the judge, reduced supervision, reduced fines and etc. while some sanctions could be fines, community service, or even jail confinement. The seventh key component focuses on the importance of judicial interaction throughout the program, which can sometimes occur on a weekly basis. Key component number eight explains how imperative monitoring and evaluation is to measure the achievement of program goals and measure effectiveness. It is imperative for drug courts to display some sort of positive outcome by “gathering and managing information due to them monitoring daily activities, evaluating the quality of services provided, and producing longitudinal evaluations” (Mackin et al., 2012). The ninth and tenth components promote the importance of interdisciplinary education and forging partnerships with other agencies and community-based organizations. Education and training are important to maintain a specific level of professionalism and expanding collaborations would be helpful to provide a continuum of services for drug court participants.

Drug Courts came about as a result of a backlogged court system and a steady, rapidly increasing prison population. Drug courts are a form of diversion that helps the offender through rehabilitation and the community through an increased sense of protection, which serves the best interest of everyone. Drug Courts are community based intermediate sanctions that incorporate treatment principles into the Criminal Justice System and divert drug offenders from traditional punishments of probation and prison. The objective of drug courts programs is to treat the underlying problems of addiction among drug offenders and eliminate participants’ future drug use and crime.

I believe that drug court is the best option for people trying to recover from using drugs. The drug court provides a safe place for people who is trying to recover. Drug courts are there to keep the people away from drugs and the people that do them still so they can get their life put together again. People are in for a minimum of 18 months for people who have felony convictions, but it takes atlas 22 to 25 months to finish the program.

The Maryland drug court system has failed plenty of people since it was first introduced 1993, because of the goals and requirements are unrealistic and the offenders with an actual serious drug problem in the program are not getting the proper treatments they need to successfully stay clean once they graduate. In this essay elaborate on the practices that should be changed and if rehabilitation, detoxification and opioid treatments need to be available were to be implemented it would improve the program and keep people like my loved one on the right track and not headed to prison.

Dependent Variable. The effectiveness and the impact of the drug court will be assessed by analyzing the recidivism rates between the treatment group and the comparison group of probationers. Recidivism will be measured by examining both felony and misdemeanor charges and arrests, and drug related arrests will further be examined. Outcome data pertaining to arrests will be collected from the months of June, July, and August of 2016, allowing for an average follow-up time of 517 days. The data to be collected will include official rearrest results upon the completion of the drug treatment program and upon the completion of a probation sentence for the comparison group. Through the arrest results, further examination will be conducted on the severity of the crimes committed and whether they involved drug offenses.

In most cases, one of the main objectives of courts and the sentences they impose is that of rehabilitation. This is evidenced through a growing move in favour of a more holistic approach to justice, trying to address the issues which may have led to the crime, rather than just punishing the end result. One of the prime examples of this therapeutic approach to justice is the introduction of the Drug Court. Governed by the Drug Court Act 1998, the Drug court has both Local court and District court jurisdiction, and seeks to target the causes of drug-related criminal behaviour. It achieves this by ensuring that those who go through it receive treatment for their addictions, thereby reducing their propensity to reoffend, as many crimes are motivated by the need to satisfy addictions.

However, there is often not any rehabilitation or trades offered to those arrested for drug use. Therefore, when these individuals are released from prison, often times they turn back to using or selling drugs. Simply imprisoning those arrested for drug crimes without attempting to provide opportunities for improvement once they are released is ineffective in winning the war against drugs. Instead the cycle of drug crime to imprisonment begins again. While resourcing is limited for rehabilitation for offenders, there have been some efforts put in place to help alleviate the increase in drug sells and usage around the country, such as the increase in funding, education and

The deciding factor for someone to be able to participate in this program is they must admit that they have a “problem” that they need help with and want to seek treatment. If someone does not wish to become drug and alcohol free they will not be successful in this program. There are phases to being able to complete DUI drug court. The first step is to obtain a Drug/Alcohol evaluation and ask the court to accept this evaluation. Once the evaluation is accepted by the court the client and the court enter into a Deferred Prosecution agreement. This agreement basically states that the client will refrain from any substance usage for 60 months (5 years), have no criminal law violations, complete every aspect of the treatment recommendations (including refraining from drugs and alcohol) and pass random UA’s that are set by the probation officer. If the client completes all aspects of this agreement then they will have no other sanctions and the case will be dismissed. Unless someone is committed to changing their behavior and learning a different way of living their life in a clean and sober way. If you stop and think about it five years is really not that long of a time compared to the rest of your life and being able to live your life and not have to worry about

Currently, drug courts have been proven to be successful at reducing recidivism of offenders. In the United States there are about 120,000 people receiving help in order to rehabilitate them and to try to reduce the chances of recidivism (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2011). These programs require individuals to participate in the programs for a minimum of one year. During this year the individuals are required to appear in court and be drug tested at

For those addicts who want rehabilitation, finding a bed in a treatment center is a challenge; thus, many become frustrated and continue on a path of destruction. If addicts commit a criminal offense, the courts provide assistance. Due to the over- crowding of jails and prisons, many states are increasing the level of supervision, the level of drug treatment, and the intensity of probation at the front end as a formula to put broken people on the right track, piece by piece.

Those incarcerated today are not given the chance to change their behavior patterns, especially when it is in regard to drug addiction. The criminal justice system in general does not consider drug abuse as anything but a crime and does not think about treating the disease of addiction in order to reduce or eliminate the crimes that come as a

As soon as they set their foot right back out into the real world, the addicts just return to their old ways. They were most likely able to obtain some drugs in jail because of the loop holes in our jail systems. Rod Wright, an Assemblyman from Los Angeles, said it best with the following quote about the whole drug abuse situation:

I attended Drug Court held at the Dunklin County Justice Center in Kennett, Missouri. Court was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on June 14, 2017. I contacted Julie Spielman who serves as the Drug Court Administrator ahead of time to inform her of the assignment and to find out when the next meeting was. She was very helpful in providing me with various options of dates and times of available court hearings. She gave me directions to follow once I arrived at the Justice Center. Julie made me feel comfortable in attending. Observing Drug Court was very interesting and an eye-opening experience. This was my first time attending so I did not know what to expect. I expected to be in a court room with a judge and have various members of the community there to report on their progress. Phillip Britt, serves as the Drug Court Commissioner and he was leading court. He called each member up to the stand to report on their progress in treatment and to sign off that they were in attendance. I feel that Drug Court is very effective for those in treatment to attend. Along with their caseworker and the judge, members are held accountable to attend treatment, various meetings such as AA or NA, and encouraged to make positive choices to ensure sobriety. I observed that the court system works very well with the person in treatment. They work as a team to get the person sober and help them through treatment. The court system has strict guidelines set that each person must follow to graduate the