Drug courts throughout the nation vary on admission guidelines and sentencing practices, but in general, to be considered eligible for inclusion into a drug court program, you must not have been arrested for major drug trafficking, it must be a first or nearly first offence, and there must be no history of violent crime. Courts mandate residential treatment, compulsory attendance at group therapy meetings and compulsory transitional or halfway housing, depending on the severity of the addiction, and the needs of the offender. If the offender completes their period of treatment fully, and passes several random drug tests, at the end of an agreed upon length of time they are considered rehabilitated, and their record is most often expunged from police files.
There currently exists a great demand for this usually voluntary program, and federal and state funded treatment slots do not meet the needed demand; and as such many are disallowed beneficial access due to a lack of penal treatment capacity. Additionally, periods of residential treatment may be cut shorter than would be optimum to make room for a next participant in the program.
page last update Aug 05, 2010
