How Drug Courts Work
Eligible drug-addicted persons may be sent to Drug Court in lieu of traditional justice system case processing.
Drug Courts keep individuals in treatment long enough for it to work, while supervising them closely. For a minimum term of one year, participants are:
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- provided with intensive treatment and other services they require to get and stay clean and sober;
- held accountable by the Drug Court judge for meeting their obligations to the court, society, themselves and their families;
- regularly and randomly tested for drug use;
- required to appear in court frequently so that the judge may review their progress; and
- rewarded for doing well or sanctioned when they do not live up to their obligations.
Drug Courts are the most effective justice intervention for treating drug-addicted people. Drug Courts reduce drug use. Drug Courts reduce crime. Drug Courts save money. Drug Courts restore lives. Drug Courts save children and reunite families.
Drug Courts serve a fraction of the estimated 1.2 million drug-addicted people currently involved in the justice system. To truly break the cycle of drugs and crime in America, we must put a Drug Court within reach of every American in need.
