Let me welcome you all to this workshop on drug treatment courts.

Drug trafficking and all of its related ills represent one of the most potent threats to democracy and stability in the Western Hemisphere today. Those were the words of OAS Secretary-General Insulza a few months ago when he spoke of the challenges we face in providing a multidimensional response to the drug problem. Last year, the New Hemispheric Drug Strategy was approved by all OAS Member States, and hopefully in May the CICAD Commission will be approving a hemispheric plan of action to implement the strategy.

We believe that policies that help prevent crime, violence and drugs are just as vital to community well-being as law enforcement actions. Court- supervised treatment of certain types of drug-dependent offenders as an alternative to incarceration is a concept that for the past 20 years has proven its value across different cultures as a means of reducing crime, reducing repeat offenses, reducing relapse into drug use, and reducing the prison population. It is also cost effective.

The issue of cost is important. The cost of drugs to our societies is very significant at a time when many economies are faltering. The costs lie in law enforcement actions against drug traffickers and street dealers. The costs to the health and welfare systems are only now being quantified: CICAD studies on the subject show that drug abuse places significant additional strains on already overburdened health care systems, and causes major loss of worker productivity. Prisons are overcrowded in many places because of the high proportion of prisoners incarcerated for drug-related crimes.

According to the most recent reports from the United Nations about 20% of drug users in the world are considered problem drug users, or drug dependent.

While it is still difficult to quantify the drugs/crime relationship, there is sufficient evidence to connect problem drug users to crime and lack of citizen security. Not all drug users are offenders; that is clear. But there is evidence showing that a large number of people committing crimes are drug abusers or dependent users. Just as an example, a study in Chile in 2010 showed by means of urine tests that 74% of arrested individuals had used drugs. Twelve (12%) per cent tested positive for methamphetamine consumption, compared to only 1.5% five years before, a significant increase. Similarly, in the United States, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimated a few years ago that 70 percent of individuals in state prisons and local jails have abused drugs regularly, compared with approximately 9 percent of the general population.

Studies show that treatment cuts drug abuse in half, reduces criminal activity by up to 80 percent, and reduces arrests up to 64 percent. However, fewer than one-fifth of drug-dependent offenders receive treatment for their addiction to drugs.

The new hemispheric drug strategy explicitly recognizes drug dependence as a chronic, relapsing disease. This concept may be novel to some in our hemisphere, some who persist in regarding drug addiction or dependence as somehow being a moral failing, deserving only of punishment rather than proper care.

Since drug dependence is a disease, the only logical course is to treat the disease. Leaving the disease untreated almost guarantees that the drug-dependent person will relapse into drug use. Leaving the disease untreated will almost certainly mean that a drug-dependent offender will re-offend, will commit another crime, either in order to feed his drug habit, or when he is under the influence of drugs.

The heart of success of drug treatment court is the combination of treatment with judicial supervision and oversight. Without treatment, there is no drug treatment court. And without the power and majesty of the bench, the offender’s adherence to an often lengthy course of drug treatment would probably be much harder. Drug treatment and the justice system go hand in hand.

Jamaica recognized this in 1999, with the passage of the Drug Court (Treatment and Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act, and the establishment of two drug treatment courts in this country. Jamaica took a bold step ten years ago, by recognizing in its law the concepts of drug dependence, treatment providers and screening of offenders for drug use.

Drug courts are slowly spreading in the western hemisphere. In addition to the almost 2,500 drug courts in the United States, and the growing number of drug treatment courts in Canada, there are 19 courts operating in Chile, two in Jamaica, one each in Mexico, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands; a pilot project in process in Suriname, and drug treatment court experiences in at least four states in Brazil.

It is CICAD’S intention to support the creation of drug treatment courts in at least four more countries within the next two years. This workshop is a concrete step in that direction.

To help the OAS do that, CICAD invited a small group of academics, researchers, judges, prosecutors, treatment providers and other specialists from the Americas, Europe and Australia to discuss drug treatment courts and the concept of therapeutic jurisprudence. I am very pleased to see that some of the participants in that meeting are here with us today.

I think it is very significant that in the organization of American States, we are embracing the idea that courts and the law can be more than instruments of deterrence, incapacitation or retribution. We are embracing the idea that the law and the courts can help improve the lives of offenders – and thereby society – and not simply punish.

We have invited you here to consider this, and many other difficult issues that face the court system in today’s society. Drug treatment courts are not the magic bullet that will help all drug-dependent offenders. But for some, drug treatment court offers a way out of the cycle of drugs and crime. Drug treatment courts are one means of addressing drug addiction and crime in our communities, in our countries, in our hemisphere.

Let me close by expressing my deepest gratitude to the CARICOM Secretariat for joining us in this multilateral effort. I am also grateful to the Ministry of Justice and the office of the Chief Justice of Jamaica; the Ministry of Health, and its National Council on Drug Abuse; the Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Courts and the International Association of Drug Treatment Courts. Let me also thank the Canadian Government for providing financial support to the OAS to launch this drug treatment court program in the Caribbean.

As you know, behind these institutions, there are individuals whose persistence and energy make a difference. Let me thank you, Justice Bentley, Justice Barnes, Justice Haisley, Ms. Beverly Reynolds, and Mr. Michael Tucker, for your support and leadership.

Thank you all for being here.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org