ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / September 25, 2000

LAPLACE – Starting Oct. 1 St. John the Baptist Parish will have a new weapon in the fight against drug addiction and crime.

At a community meeting held at the Arcuri Center in LaPlace this week, 40th District Judge Madeline Jasmine unveiled a program designed to help break the cycle of drug addiction and at the same time cut down on crime and recidivism.

The program is called Drug Court. With the help of St. John District Attorney John Crum, St. John Parish Sheriff Wayne L. Jones and the community, Jasmine is hoping the Drug Court will help some people to straighten out their lives and become productive citizens of the parish.

“Drug Court is a drug-treatment program,” said Jasmine. “It is for non-violent drug offenders.”This program is not to be confused with the drug court set up by Jones and Crum. That court only deals with hard-core drug dealers and repeat offenders. The purpose of that court is to get repeat offenders off the streets in put in prison for long stretches.

Drug Court was a concept started 10 years ago in Florida. Prosecutors and judges wanted to stop the growing number of crimes done by drug users and realized that putting the addict in jail was not doing any good.

Jasmine said St. John Parish is beginning to have the same problem.”We see the same people in our courts over and over again,” said Jasmine, “and just arresting people over and over is not putting the taxpayers’ money to the best use.”Jones agreed. “Incarceration may not be the answer. You can’t condemn them for the rest of their lives for one little mistake.””It will help to keep kids from getting killed or going to jail,” said Crum.

“This is a step to making things better.”The Florida experiment worked so well the federal government set up Drug Court grants in 10 cities across the country. Today, there are Drug Courts all over the country. Louisiana has the greatest number of Drug Courts in the country with 30.

Jasmine applied for a federal grant and, after getting the money, she and her assistant were sent to San Bernadino, Ca., Seattle and Lafayette for training seminars on Drug Court.

Now Jasmine is hoping to start Drug Court here in St. John Parish on Oct. 1 with a pilot program of five drug abusers.

Basically, the judge in Drug Court gives the offender a choice – either get off drugs or go to jail. If the addict chooses to get off drugs, then hewill be faced with a program of very hard choices.

Jasmine cautioned, “Drug Court is not for everybody.”Getting into Drug Court will be a rigorous process. The district attorney’s office has to recommend the offender as a candidate for Drug Court. The person has to have been convicted of a non-violent crime. The offender cannot be convicted for sex crimes, drug-dealing or gun possession. They also must be a resident of St. John Parish. No transients will be accepted into Drug Court.

“The screening process is very important as to who you want in the program,” said Crum.

If the addict is accepted he will have to participate in a very strict regimen requiring the addict to undergo therapy at least nine hours a week, including attending a minimum of three Alcoholic Anonymous meetings a week.

The addict will have to undergo drug testing three times a week and report to the judge every week on his or her progress. The program will last a minimum of 18 months. For right now Jasmine will only accept adults in the program and will only deal with drug abusers for now. Jasmine said that later they may let alcoholics into the program.

“Some will relapse,” admitted Jasmine, “but we won’t kick them out. We will have a program in place to deal with relapses. Addiction will be treated as a illness – which it is.”Jasmine assured the large audience gathered in the Arcuri Center that Drug Court will not be a slap on the wrist.

If the person refuses Drug Court or cannot be rehabilitated, they will go straight to jail.

However, for this program to be a success, Jasmine told her audience that three things are needed: community support, family support and money.

Right now Jasmine and company are working on the remaining funds of the $10,000 federal grant. They will need more money just to pay for the three-times-a-week urinalysis tests that are required. Once the program has gotten off the ground graduates from Drug Court have to reimburse the court for all drug-testing costs.

The cost of the entire program depends on the number of people who participate in Drug Court. Jasmine estimates that it will cost about $2,500 a year to treat one person.

But she said that will still be cheaper than having the sheriff spend $30,000 a year to incarcerate the same person.

Jasmine hopes to have more funding for the court by the first of the year.

“We are applying for more federal funding and to the state for residual funds,” Jasmine said, “and we are looking to the local community for funding support.”Jasmine is also asking for the support from the community. She wants to build up a core of what she calls “stake holders.” These will be citizens from the parish that will help the judge to design the program that will fit the community of St. John Parish.”The Drug Court is a community-based program that is tailored to each community,” said Jasmine. “We are not going to look like other Drug Courts, and they won’t look like us.”According to Jasmine, Crum and Jones, Drug Court has a great track record and is being accepted all over the country as one of the most effective ways to fight drug addiction and drug-related crimes.

“It will take the community and family effort to make this happen,” Crum said. “But it will be shown that the recidivism rate will go down. We care about these people. We want this to succeed.”For Jasmine, Drug Court is a personal thing.

“It is about helping people regain their lives,” she said.

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