DRUG TREATMENT COURTS—A VIABLE OPTION FOR CANADA? SENTENCING ISSUES AND PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM THE TORONTO COURT

Abstract

The first drug treatment court in Canada began operation in Toronto in December of 1998. This paper describes some aspects of the evolution, structure, and operation of this court. In addition, the federally-funded evaluation of the new program has produced data from the first 18 months of its full operation when 198 drug-dependent individuals were admitted. These preliminary results are described and compared to the findings of an Australian study and to select American studies. Important differences in sentencing practices and options for drug offenses between Canada and the United States are highlighted. Even at this early stage of development, it is suggested that the types of clients retained and more successful in this Canadian experiment may be quite different from the more typical American drug treatment court clientele. The need for careful monitoring and more complete, long-term information is emphasized before the viability of this approach is established for Canada.

• Drug treatment courts
• Sentencing
• Therapeutic jurisprudence
• Drug courts
• Crime

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carol La Prairie

Carol La Prairie, B.Sc., B.Sw., M.A., Ph.D., is a criminologist working for the federal Department of Justice in Canada. Her Ph.D. in Sociology is from the University of British Columbia, and her areas of research interest are aboriginal criminal justice, sentencing reform, and program evaluation. Carol has conducted considerable field work in aboriginal communities, and has published extensively on the subject of aboriginal people and the criminal justice system. Her involvement in the Toronto Drug Treatment Court evaluation was part of her work with the National Crime Prevention Centre. Her next challenge will be with BC Corrections where she will be involved in valuating offender programs, including those related to “substance abuse.”

Louis Gliksman

Louis Gliksman, Ph.D., received his B.Sc. from McGill University, his M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Western Ontario. He has been with the Addiction Research Foundation, now part of the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, since 1978. He is currently the Director of the Social, Prevention & Health Policy Research Department and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario. His research interests are in prevention, health promotion, and evaluation related to addiction. His work in program evaluation has allowed him to use a wide assortment of survey techniques with a variety of populations (eg, youth, university students, aboriginal groups, and general community members). The research work has included the spectrum of program evaluation—from formative evaluations (eg, developing a community-based needs assessment instrument that focuses on health promotion and prevention efforts on a community level) to outcome and impact evaluations of major community interventions (eg, in schools, universities and whole communities).

Patricia G. Erickson

Patricia Erickson, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. She is also Professor of Sociology and former Director of the Collaborative Program in Addiction Studies at the University of Toronto. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Social Administration from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She has published over 70 articles and chapters, is the author of Cannabis Criminals (1980), co-author of The Steel Drug: Cocaine and Crack in Perspective (1987;1994), and the Co-editor of Illicit Drugs in Canada (1988), Windows on Science (1992), and Harm Reduction: A New Direction for Drug Policies and Programs (1997). She is currently conducting a study of youth, drugs, and violence, with collaborators at the University of Delaware.

Ronald Wall

Ronald Wall, Ph.D.,has training in health economics, clinical/population/social epidemiology, and health care outcomes research. Ron is currently a senior economist with the Applied Research & Analysis Directorate of Health Canada where, as a knowledge broker, he synthesizes/performs research to inform evidence-based policy-making. Ron has also been a member of several research agencies, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation, and the McMaster University Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis. While at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, his research was concerned with the economic burden of untreated opioid dependence, evaluation of harm reduction interventions for “substance abuse” including the Drug Treatment Court and a recently funded grant on the management of concurrent chronic pain and drug abuse), and the performance of Ontario substance user treatment agencies.

Brenda Newton-Taylor

Brenda Newton-Taylor, M.A., is a Research Associate II with the Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research Department, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She received her BA and MA in Sociology from the University of Western Ontario, and has worked with CAMH for the past 14 years. Brenda is the Project Manager for the Toronto Drug Treatment Court Evaluation Project. She has been involved in research regarding coercion into treatment and concurrent treatment of “substance abuse” and aggressive behaviour. She has also been involved in research and program evaluation in the areas of treatment services and health promotion, including community based needs assessments for health promotion, university student substance use and lifestyle behaviours, and the development of training materials for community based coalitions.