Drug Rehab

A Drug Court is a special court given the responsibility to manage non-violent cases involving substance-abusing offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives. Drug Courts emphasize rehabilitation of offenders, and offer individuals facing non-violent criminal charges for drug use and possession an opportunity to enter a substance abuse recovery program in lieu of jail time. This paper will focus on the purpose of drug courts and drug rehabilitation programs in lieu of jail time, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of drug rehabilitation programs.

The first drug court was “implemented in 1989 in Miami, Florida” and since then the number of drug courts has continually increased across the U.S. (Scheb, & Scheb II, 2011). The Bureau of Justice Assistance Drug Court Clearing House Project, February 11, 2009, listed 2,018 drug courts operating in all fifty States, the District of Columbia, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam with another 257 drug court programs in the planning stages” (Scheb, & Scheb II, 2011). The primary goal of drug courts is to stop the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, and other related criminal activity. Drug courts are meant to guide non-violent drug offenders away from jail and into a treatment program that will reduce drug dependency and reduce the recidivism.

“The U.S. Department of Justice reported that incarceration alone does little to break the cycle of drugs and crime. One study, completed in 1993, found that a full 60% of police chiefs believe that police and other law enforcement agencies have been unsuccessful in reducing the drug problem in the United States” ("Purpose and goals," 2007). In a report entitled Recidivism rates for Drug Court Graduates: Nationally Based Estimates, released in 2003 that was conducted by researchers at Caliber Associates and the Urban Institute and was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice’s...