Throughout the past few decades, drug courts have emerged as a viable policy option to treat the dramatic increase of drug offenders in the United States (Johnson, Hubbard, & Latessa, 2000). The high prevalence of drug use among offender populations and the increase in the proportion of drug offenders have been well documented (Lindquist, Krebs, & Lattimore, 2006). According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 48.4% of sentenced inmates in federal prison are serving time for drug offenses, as of September 26, 2015 (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2015). In response to the large numbers of drug offenders, the criminal justice system has implemented drug courts has an alternative approach to incarceration.
Drug treatment courts are specialized courts …show more content…
Beginning in 1885 to 1925, the United States suffered its first widespread drug epidemic on addiction (Roper, 2007). Physicians freely prescribed opium and morphine as pain relievers and major pharmaceutical companies advertised products containing heroin and cocaine to citizens of all ages. It was not until the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 that congress responded to substance addiction in American by controlling the importation and dismantle of opiates. By 1925, heroin had also become illegal in the United States, and by the 1940s, illegal drugs were extremely difficult to find and the promise of eliminating illicit drug use seemed possible (Roper, …show more content…
Drug courts are designed to improve the participants’ chances of successful reintegration into society by providing social services, such as job training and placement, education, and housing assistance (Franco, 2011). Furthermore, the drug court model functions on the premises of unifying principles known as the “key components” (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2004; Franco, 2011; Hora & Stalcup, 2007). The key components are arranged through a collaboration of enhanced information, community engagement, accountability, and treatment outcomes (Fisher, 2014). The primary purpose of these principles is to address the underlying causes of addiction by enabling the traditional criminal justice system to use a non-adversarial, non-punitive approach (Hora & Stalcup, 2007; Wolfer, 2006).
There are two paramount models of drug treatment courts: pre-adjudication and post-adjudication models, also known as pre-plea and post-plea models (Franco, 2011; Hora & Stalcup, 2007). The pre-adjudication drug treatment model operates as a diversion program in which the defendant is given the opportunity to participate in the program without entering a plea of guilty. Those defendants completing the program successfully generally receive a dismissal
Drug treatment courts are specialized courts …show more content…
Beginning in 1885 to 1925, the United States suffered its first widespread drug epidemic on addiction (Roper, 2007). Physicians freely prescribed opium and morphine as pain relievers and major pharmaceutical companies advertised products containing heroin and cocaine to citizens of all ages. It was not until the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 that congress responded to substance addiction in American by controlling the importation and dismantle of opiates. By 1925, heroin had also become illegal in the United States, and by the 1940s, illegal drugs were extremely difficult to find and the promise of eliminating illicit drug use seemed possible (Roper, …show more content…
Drug courts are designed to improve the participants’ chances of successful reintegration into society by providing social services, such as job training and placement, education, and housing assistance (Franco, 2011). Furthermore, the drug court model functions on the premises of unifying principles known as the “key components” (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2004; Franco, 2011; Hora & Stalcup, 2007). The key components are arranged through a collaboration of enhanced information, community engagement, accountability, and treatment outcomes (Fisher, 2014). The primary purpose of these principles is to address the underlying causes of addiction by enabling the traditional criminal justice system to use a non-adversarial, non-punitive approach (Hora & Stalcup, 2007; Wolfer, 2006).
There are two paramount models of drug treatment courts: pre-adjudication and post-adjudication models, also known as pre-plea and post-plea models (Franco, 2011; Hora & Stalcup, 2007). The pre-adjudication drug treatment model operates as a diversion program in which the defendant is given the opportunity to participate in the program without entering a plea of guilty. Those defendants completing the program successfully generally receive a dismissal