County Drug Court Plan Apparently Dead

Ventura County’s plan to implement an experimental drug court--a program that would help addicts get treatment for their addiction rather than face repeated jail sentences--apparently has died.

Municipal Judge Barry B. Klopfer, assigned to oversee implementation of the court, has sent a letter to all agencies involved in designing the program, declaring that their efforts have “reached an impasse.”

In his letter, Klopfer complained that program criteria insisted upon by the district attorney’s office are so restrictive that the participants are “treated as ‘cookie-cutter addicts,’ not as individuals who may show varying strengths and weaknesses as they pursue their program of recovery.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald C. Janes said prosecutors were “very disappointed to receive that memo, and we’re contemplating what the best course of action is at this point.”

“We felt we’d offered a fair compromise that was consistent with our goals of accountability and offering these addicts a chance to demonstrate some responsibility and a chance to get off drugs,” Janes said.

Other agencies involved in trying to formulate a workable program agreed with Klopfer’s assessment that prosecutors’ demands became too great.

“They placed impediments on the road to achieving this goal that are just too difficult,” Public Defender Kenneth Clayman said.

Drug courts, which are becoming popular throughout the United States, are designed to provide immediate aggressive treatment to drug offenders so they can overcome their addiction and not commit drug-related crimes, such as burglary.

While a convicted drug user now serves a mandatory jail sentence, in drug court a person signs a contract that promises dismissal of the criminal conviction after completion of a one-year treatment program. During that year, the person is closely supervised by the judge, and both successes and problems are handled in open court.

Ventura County has been trying to put together a drug court for two years.

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As it stands now, prosecutors are willing to allow only those charged with being under the influence of an illegal drug, a misdemeanor, to enter the program. Drug possession is a felony, and addicts facing that charge will not be eligible for the special court, “even though active addiction must, by its nature, involve possession of the drug,” Klopfer wrote.

Also, clients can be punished for relapses but cannot be rewarded for their successes, the judge said. And if the relapse occurs in the last three months of the program, “the District Attorney, in his sole discretion, decides that client’s fate,” rather than placing the decision with the judge, Klopfer wrote.

“I think it’s laughable to say there’s no reward,” Janes said. “The reward is the dismissal of the criminal charge. I think that’s a pretty substantial reward.”

But Steve Kaplan, director of the county Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, said a reward at the end is not enough for a hard-core addict.

“There’s too many major hurdles to overcome to get there,” Kaplan said. “It will inhibit people at the front end (of the program) from ever taking the chance.”

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State law requires that a person serve a minimum of 90 days in jail for being under the influence of heroin or cocaine. Repeat offenders can receive as much as a year in custody, Janes said.

Kaplan said he believes addicts would rather just serve a 90-day sentence--which means 60 days actual jail time--than enter a one-year treatment program.

“I was trying to put myself in the perspective of the addict and saying, ‘Why would I sign up for this? Where were the incentives? Where were the inducements for me to enter this program?’. . . . I don’t think there was any incentive, or very, very little.”

Although Klopfer’s letter invited anyone who wants to continue discussion to contact him, he said a meeting Friday was unproductive because the public defender’s representative was ill and Janes said he was not ready to discuss anything.

Clayman said his office accepts that the drug court is unworkable at this time, but he’s not happy about it.

“At the last minute, after two years of hard work by everybody, including the district attorney, to see that the thing is going to die is very distressing to me,” Clayman said.