Drug court aims to break the addiction-crime link

With 75 percent of the convicts in this country addicted to drugs and 30 percent of the people entering the prison system being sent there for drug-related offenses, treatment programs have become an integral part of the criminal justice system. One such initiative that is having notable success in Mahoning County is the drug court.
Three years ago, Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Jack Durkin took the creative step of offering individuals convicted of drug-related crimes treatment and rehabilitation as an alternative to prison. Today, there are more than 100 people taking advantage of the alternative, but more significantly, of the 58 convicts who completed the program, not one has been rearrested.
Such success has bred imitation. Four weeks ago, the county's misdemeanor drug court run by Mahoning County Court Judge Theresa Dellick opened in Canfield. It was made possible by a two-year, $500,000 grant from the federal government, but that expenditure will pale in comparison to the savings that will be realized from treating, rather than imprisoning convicts.
Ceremony: There was an official opening ceremony for the court on Wednesday attended by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton and Michael Stringer, chief of the division of judicial services at the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, among others.
"We know that if we keep people in treatment programs long enough, we can be successful 70 or 80 percent of the time," Stringer said. "The drug court helps in that process."
And Justice Stratton pointed out that freeing an addict from repeated drug-related crimes and prison not only saves a life but reduces the cost to society and the criminal justice system.
The statistics support her contention. According to a report from the state's drug and alcohol services department, it costs $50,000 a year, including capitalization, to keep someone behind bars for one year, compared to the $5,000 it costs to treat that individual for alcohol and other drug addiction.
But it isn't just the dollars and cents that make initiatives such as drug courts so compelling.
Success: A 1995 study revealed that overall, convicts in treatment showed a 30 percent reduction in arrests the year after arrest, while clients spending one year in treatment averaged almost 50 more arrest-free days following release than inmates who received no treatment.
One of the graduates of Judge Durkin's drug court, Stuart Chester of Boardman, summed up the benefits of the program thus:
"I didn't have a problem, I just had a bad habit, but they helped me realize that the problem was within me." Chester said. He was convicted of a variety of gun and drug charges about 18 months ago.