Close to 30 Polk and Haralson County drug addicts trying to overcome their habit are getting help from the Tallapoosa Circuit Drug Intervention Program or “Drug Court.”

The program was organized in February 2004 with the mission of improving lives and increasing public safety by reducing the amount and frequency of drug related crimes, according to Pam Godfrey, program coordinator. It also reduces the number of people entering an overcrowded jail and prison system, according to Superior Court Judge Richard Sutton.

Anyone involved in manufacturing, trafficking or the distribution of drugs or with violent charges against them cannot participate. However, to be eligible a participant must have a current drug related charge pending, have no previous record of violent felony, home burglary or trafficking, be at least 17 years old, a US citizen, speak fluent English and have a diagnosable substance abuse addiction, according to the eligibility criteria.

It cost approximately $35 per day to house an individual in jail or prison versus the cost of $3.29 per day for someone to participate in this intervention program according to statistics provided by the Drug Court.

The retention rate of the program is 96 percent, with the recidivism rate or relapse into crime rate being at eight percent, according to records.

Polk and Haralson Counties are generally recognized as the areas where the methamphetamine problem started in Georgia and are still the areas considered to be the worst in the state, according to Sutton, who organized and presides over the program along with a team of professionals. He said that these counties have drug problems equivalent to and higher than that of Fulton County even though the alcohol and drug problem is just as serious across Northwest Georgia. Eighty percent of the criminal case load here is drug and alcohol related, Sutton said.

The Drug Intervention Program is a 12-month, intensive outpatient rehabilitation program.

The demands of the oversight panel are strenuous, Sutton said, and stipulate that the participants must: work full time, earn their GED if needed, attend NA or AA twice a week, attend group counseling three times a week, be under a curfew, complete community service and attend the actual Drug Court twice a month as well as be subject to random drug screenings.

It is during the court time that Sutton hands down either sanctions (discipline/punishment) or incentives when the individual appears before him.

For example if the person has had a “dirty screening” or tested positive for drug use during his or her participation, Sutton may send them to jail for the weekend, he said. One participant was kicked out. Presently there are six or seven under some kind of sanction, Sutton said.

They are presently incarcerated and may end up in a long term rehab center. Incentives such as gift cards and movie passes are given to participants who are making progress, he explained.

Donna Johnson, who is the addiction therapist for the program, said that she has seen more accomplished with this process in treatment than anywhere else in her 20 years experience.

Many participants have lost everything when entering the program, Johnson said, “and now they have gotten their jobs back, they’ve gotten their families back, they’ve gotten a home, their driver’s license and car back.”

“It’s been amazing to watch the process over the short time that we’ve had it [the program],” she added. Johnson also reiterated that once you consider the effects addiction has on the whole community one can see how important this program is.

Johnson recently returned from California where she was trained and certified in a new treatment model for addicts called the Matrix Model and is implementing it now. She said, “We’re the only Drug Court in the state with this training.” There are approximately 11 other Drug Courts in Georgia.

“The key in overcoming the addiction is to teach them how to be normal again,” Johnson said. “Using cognitive and motivational therapy.” She explained that after drug abuse mental “reasoning is not good.”

The Matrix Model is designed to reverse the chemical changes in the brain that occurred as a result of the drug abuse, she said.

She would like to see the stigma of addiction changed, she said, because it is “scientifically proven to be a disease and people can recover,” even though it is a life-long challenge for the addict.

As required of the participants, she meets with and works with the individuals three times per week and more on an individual basis as needed.

Sutton said that the Drug Court Team wants to help the participants “break the cycle of addiction.” The group meetings are positive and the participants tend to encourage and help each other he explained. “It’s been really interesting to see the group work together and change in a positive way,” Sutton said. He plans on using graduates to come back and help future participants.

Critics have called the program “The Hug-a-Thug Program” Sutton said. But he explained that a speedy prosecution for offenders is not realistic because the crime lab is “undermanned” and it takes about a year to process evidence, plus the person is out of prison too soon without rehabilitation, he explained.

The stance of the Drug Court is that “The cycle of drug use and criminality cannot be broken under the traditional criminal justice system where those arrested received little or no treatment.”

The most frustrating aspect of the program are “surprised failures” Sutton said. A participant may have six months of being “clean” and then there is a relapse.

According to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in 2003, there were over 1,300 Drug Courts throughout the country in operation or in the planning stages.

The program operates with state grant money, D.A.R.E. funds and user fees, Sutton explained. Participants in the program must pay a $100 fee each month to the program to aid in the therapeutic aspect as well as to help offset costs. Sutton hopes the county will help in the future. The program will eventually serve around 40 participants.