SPAMALAMADINGDONG!

This American Life on the unfettered power exercised by drug court judges: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-ar…

@3, that TAL piece is brilliant, but it's not saying drug courts are bad -- it's saying when drug court judges abuse their power and don't follow the accepted procedures, bad things happen. You could say the same about any system.

@4, granted, it was an abuse of power and abuses will always happen, but that does not mean that improvements cannot, or should not, be made. as I recall the story, the problem with the system as a whole is that there are no effective checks on the judges' power to prevent such abuses, and no remedy once they do occur. the judges are simply given too much power and then trusted not to abuse it. so while there will be abuses in any system, the drug court system is particularly flawed because it practically encourages abuse, and should be, at the least, reformed.

"For example, it's easy to calculate the savings to taxpayers from King County's Drug Diversion Court: $11.2 million between 2005 and 2010."

Umm...Maybe you could report the source for this?

Also, what is the alternative that costs more than the drug courts? Am I right to assume that refers to the criminal court system?

I agree that the DPA report is poorly done, but I would be interested to know about the community treatment plan they advocate. Could that system provide further cost savings?

I'm left with a lot of questions from this article.

@5, point taken.

A paragraph describing what drug courts are and how they operate would have been helpful.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44147493/ns/…

"Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction, one that is not solely related to problematic substance abuse."

This is why prohibition/incarceration do not work.

We all know there is coruption in all court systems and to be quite honest the drug courts were not around when crack was the epidemic,not until hillbilly crack(aka,meth)was introduced into the mainstream and white people were becoming the feinds,that drug courts became so relevant.Lets be fair,why put someone in jail for a joint or for having a weed pipe or other cannibus products.Tobacco kills and it is leagal,alcohol kills and it is legal,so why not regulate the sales of cannibus and use the taxes to fund drug rehab instead of incarceration.JUST ONE MANS OPINION!!!!!

The DPA opposes Drug Courts, that offer an alternative to incarceration and that reduce recidivism? The DPA also opposes drug laws and incarceration for drug dealing/possession with intent to sell. One would have to conclude that their guiding matra is simple: "drug use uber alles". Adverse consequences don't matter. It matters not if death, disability, infections, infectious diseases, lost educational, employment opportunities, loss of family and social supports, workplace errors, accidents, increased healthcare costs, induction of a physical and/or psychiatric disease are a consequence. "Drug use uber alles" is the guiding mantra.

Drug courts are not the answer because they can only exist as long as addiction is criminalized. Addiction is a disease, not a crime, and those arrested on possession charges should be provided with community-based treatment, not subjected to a court system that threatens to incarcerate them if their disease prevents black-and-white compliance with a judge-controlled program. Read the reports you criticize-they do not claim drug courts are ineffective and do not save money, they report that when compared to providing addicts with straight-forward treatment in the community, drug courts are no more effective and do not save any additional money. Again, addiction is a disease, not a crime, and those who suffer from it should be treated by medical professionals, not criminal justice representatives.

why is the author and others hail bent on dealing with drug misuse via incarceration and drug courts? Most babies on the "our children" wall at the drug court are white is put in parenthesis but not expounded upon? Most drug courts take first time offenders who aren't even close to the destructive end of misuse. Those who truly need assistance and falter are thrown in jail. Our drug war needs all the criticism it can get, even these half hearted, sparsely funded, highly propagandized drug courts.

Drug courts undoubtedly help some people, but there is much more to the picture than this. Most interventions help some people; this does not mean that they help most people, or that they can change the problems of the system. Eli, I'd expect more from you. You didn't do your due diligence in investigating this story - in fact, you're negligent in your reporting here. It almost sounds like West Huddleston ghost wrote your piece. Disappointing.

Drug courts undoubtedly help some people, but there is much more to the picture than this. Most interventions help some people; this does not mean that they help most people, that they can't have adverse consequences for some, that they can't be improved, or that they can change the problems of the system. Eli, I'd expect more from you. You didn't do your due diligence in investigating this story - in fact, you're negligent in your reporting here. It almost sounds like West Huddleston ghost wrote your piece. Disappointing.

Mr Abrahamson is quite blatant in denying the Drug Policy Alliance endeavours to legalise all drugs. Mr Nadelman is noted for his way cry at a US Convention "We will use the legalisation of Marijuana as a red herring for the legalisation of all drugs". George Soros millions have supported them and their partners in this madness. Soros is committed to full legalisation. There is an old saying I'm sure should be taught to all budding lawyers that goes "To be a good liar you need to have a good memory". With over thirty years experience in this field I would like to advise the Drug Policy Alliance that Drug Courts for non violent offenders provide an excellent service when committed people lend holistic support. The US is served by excellent non profit organisations who do not depend on Soros money. Families and dependents also must be taken into account when treating addiction as they suffer most. Enabling addiction serves noone. Drug Courts have the power to ensure that this happens. We have enough problems with the legal drugs without adding more addictive substances to the pot, if you'll pardon the pun. Time for DPA and Mr Abrahamson to wake up and smell the coffee. Grainne Kenny (Ireland)Hon.President Eurad (Europe Against Drugs)

Drug Courts, like any other system, are as effective as the checks and balances built into the system. The most effective drug courts do not trust that the judge will be well intentioned; but provide remedies if he oversteps his authority. Without those remedies, a drug court can easily get out of control.

Also, a drug court must target the appropriate population of drug addicted people: those people who would otherwise be incarcerated. If the drug court targets only those who would otherwise get probation or who are not seriously addicted, it is wasting precious resources.

Drug courts ought to be an open book. All drug courts should be required to show their statistical record of success (lack of recidivism) and failure (rate of incarceration).

Drug courts are a great alternative to straight-up incarceration for addicts who fight, steal, and otherwise run afoul of the law. Drug courts are more compassionate than 3 strikes and you're out, for sure.

But that's not what DPA and others are objecting to. Drug courts are lousy when weighed against actual therapy, where a substance abuse/mental health professional is in charge of treatment instead of a judge who can send you to prison if they decide you've fucked up too many times.

How Eli missed that I dunno, but it sure made for CONTROVERSY, and that gets eyeballs.

As a participant of drug court due to a felony D.U.I., I will have to say in my opinion first off drugs and alcohol should be treated in two different manners not as the same. Alcohol problems should be handled by the scram bracelet , because it works....i will never get behind the wheel of anything mobile again as long as i live after wearing a scram bracelet for a year and a half. As i sit in the drug court system it seems more along the lines of discouraging everyone who participates in the program. Im a single father of three little girls 24/7 seven days a week and i have learned my lesson thanks to scram being put on myself as a condition with my bond..now after a year and a half im being forced to also do drug court which in turn is making me abandon my children almost every day of the week and force them to fend for themselves, not to mention hurt us below the belt financially. Dug court tries to focus on making people who do not work to get employment, i agree with that fully , but if they cannot find a job they are forced to do community service therefore losing time to even be able to go out and search for employment..If drug court was handled more as a care issue for the participants and make them feel like they are cared for in hopes that there lives will be changed for the better instead of this huge punnishment with rediculous ammounts of aa meetings and group therapy meetings being showered down upon them along with probation and drug court meetings every week is totally discouraging trying to make your family life and working for a living almost impossible, and one little mistake and they are adding more hours of punishment to it. I'll have to say all this is enough to drive a person to drinking or using because its problems that actually cause the behavior in the first place and is only making things worse, instead of focusing on the person it seems to be all about punishment and torture....id rather be in jail myself than to sit back and have to watch my children be misserable because there father is crying all the time because now financially its even hard to make it, barely have time to help them with there homework and they were doing so good, now im watching it go downhill.. Children having a disagreement and dad has to say i dont have time gotta go...and out the door i go, sorry i cant make you a home cooked meal i dont have the time now, have ramen noodles or a sandwhich, sorry im snappy all the time girls i try not to be but drug court is driving me insane..now thinking about having to take on a second job because my hours were cut due to the economy..what do they expect out of a person? we are still human!!! not super human. CAUSING MORE BURDEN TO ONES LIFE IS NOT THE ANSWER!!!! nine times out of ten that is the reason that they are where they are now...CARING is the soulution not a judge who wants to treat you like a child and yell and punish punish punish, i see the discouragement in a young mans face because he is trying and thinks he is doing well and improving, then the judge comes back to him with" im not here to help you people im here to help the public from people like you".... wow this whole time i thought it was supposed to be helping the individual who was in drug court and help them turn there life around.i am in my third week already and already thinking of doing jail time instead..having to put my children off on my parents to raise for a while, lose my job, and everything we have ,my girls will be heart broken and will surely make a change in there life for the worse.thanks to drug court helping me be a better man and not make a mistake such as drink and drive again, its actually going in a down hill spiral fast and is fixing to ruin more lives in the process, i kinda thought the scram bracelt for me was actually the right answer, it helped me realize and learn a long life lesson... i would even reccomend six months to a year for someone with there first offense D.U.I., THATS WHAT WORKS!!!!stop pussy footing around and crack down on it the first time. well all i can say is drug court needs to be thought through and handled by professional psychological therapists, not a judge. program needs to be more focused on helping the individual and getting his or her spirits up and make them proud of themselves and handle there problems without punishment being reigned down to counter balance out that process and turn it straight into discouragement