The National Methamphetamine
Drug Conference
Drug Courts: Cooperative Efforts in Enforcement and Treatment
Co-Chairs: Judge Richard Shull, Wichita, Kansas and Anne Camp,
United States Attorney's Office of Nebraska
Recommendations:
- Increase funding programs to establish drug courts in urban and non-urban jurisdictions.
- Health-care providers must recognize methamphetamine addiction as a medical problem.
- Increase methamphetamine awareness training in the criminal justice system and with health service providers.
Drug courts are designed to deal with the low-level, nonviolent drug offender. The offender is offered the opportunity to complete a treatment program in return for a dismissal of charges. Results show that graduates have low recidivism and return to productive lives. Our group, which included a mixture of judges, prosecutors, and treatment officials, agreed the program works, and we should expand drug courts. While these courts are more common in urban areas, they need to focus on the rural areas because finding treatment and resources in rural communities is difficult.
First, we must increase federal funding to establish drug courts in urban and non-urban jurisdictions. These courts do not need staff; they need treatment dollars. With this funding support, the courts can conduct follow-up testing and monitor the progress of the individual. Aftercare supervision increases the chance of success, much like intensive probation.
Second, health care providers must recognize methamphetamine addiction as a medical problem. Drug treatment should become as available as getting a cast for a broken arm. It costs $2,000 annually for someone in drug court as compared with $23,000 for incarceration. The use of drug courts is our most cost-effective approach to dealing with the low-level, nonviolent drug offender.
Finally, more awareness training is needed. We need to send the conference report to bar associations, to judges, to health service providers, and to community groups across the country. As a nation, we are not as familiar with methamphetamine as we should be. We must remember the differences between the urban and rural needs. Rural areas just do not have the resources to support these educational programs. Developing, packaging, and providing the training are very important for these areas, as are the treatment resources necessary for follow-up supervision.
