National Drug Court Month Celebrates Reduced Drug Use and Criminality

Raising awareness of community-based services to enhance public health and safety.

Drug courts are designed to specifically deal with nonviolent offenders who are substance abusers.  These special courts use supervision, drug testing and treatment services in a community-based setting to reduce drug use and associated crime.

Drug courts use a variety of personnel and resources that contribute to the overall effort including judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, substance abuse treatment specialists, probation officers, law enforcement and correctional personnel, educational and vocational experts, community leaders and others.

When longer-term residential treatment is included as part of the process, effective drug rehabilitation becomes a vital component to ensuring continued sobriety.  Organizations such as Narconon Arrowhead, which is a non-traditional drug rehabilitation program with a success rate of approximately 70% for its graduates, can weigh heavily on the outcome. 

Narconon Arrowhead is one of the largest and most effective drug rehabilitation and education programs in the country.  The success is attributed to the drug-free rehabilitation methodology researched and developed by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.  Many nonviolent drug offenders who are seeking a complete change of lifestyle have chosen Narconon Arrowhead as part of their recovery plan in conjunction with court systems.

May is National Drug Court Month, which is promoted by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP).  The NADCP was founded in 1994 by visionary drug court Judge Jeffrey Tauber.  When Judge Tauber first started work on this vision in 1994, there were twelve drug courts.  Today there are more than 1,600 drug courts in operation in all 50 states.

A study conducted by the National Institute of Justice showed that after two years the re-arrest rate for drug court graduates was less than half compared to offenders who did not attend a drug court program (27.5 percent compared to 58.6 percent). The National Drug Control Strategy outlined by the White House has proposed an additional $30 million in funding for drug courts this year, bringing the total to $70 million.  The number of drug courts grew by more than 400 over the previous year and additional funding will add to this trend.

In a country where the damage caused by drugs is more than the gross domestic product of over 200 other nations more of our nation's dollars should go to programs that have a proven track record of success.

Continuing this trend will ultimately reduce budgetary strains as well as produce more productive members of society who are drug free.

For more information about Narconon Arrowhead or to get help for a loved one in need, call 1-800-468-6933 or visit www.stopaddiction.com.

To learn more about the National Association of Drug Court Professionals log on to www.nadcp.org.

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