Regina Drug Treatment Court set to produce 100th graduate

The Regina Drug Treatment Court is about to hit the century mark.

The program, which has been in existence for 14 years, is to produce its 100th graduate Tuesday.

“It’s a milestone,” Judge Pat Reis, who currently sits in the court, said in a media release Monday. “It is very encouraging to know that our program is working and having the successes that we’re having.

“To have four graduates (this month), especially with the epidemic of drug abuse taking place in Regina and with the COVID-19 pandemic, is very encouraging to me.”

The court is a joint partnership between the federal Department of Justice and the provincial ministries of justice and health, as well as numerous agencies and organizations.

The voluntary program is open to adults accused of a crime whose criminal behaviour is deemed to have been caused by their addiction to drugs. Participants must plead guilty to the crimes of which they’re accused and waive the right to immediate sentencing.

Those who aren’t eligible to participate include people who have failed the court’s treatment over the past year or who are charged with offences that included serious violence, sexual assaults, family violence cases, offences involving or relating to children/youth, and profit-motivated commercial drug trafficking.

After pleading guilty, participants enter a treatment program that includes hundreds of hours of programming and counselling. They must remain demonstrably clean for at least three months, find jobs or return to school.

Over the course of the program — which typically lasts a year or more — participants also have to follow bail conditions that require certain conduct, undergo drug testing, report to a case manager and appear in court at least once a week. Drug court is held every Tuesday.

“Its purpose is to break the cycle of addiction and crime by offering treatment,” said Judge Cliff Toth, who helped start the court and was the first person to sit as its judge.

“Treatment courts address the major social issues that bring people before the courts — addiction, mental illness and domestic violence — and offer treatment rather than incarceration.”

Participants who don’t meet the program’s requirements could face sanctions, while those who fail to follow the treatment program will face sentencing by the court.

In the media release, the court said graduates meet regularly to offer support to fellow graduates and current participants in the program.

“What the Drug Treatment Court allows us to do is slow the system down and help each person individually,” Reis said. “We have a bright future, we’re having successes, and we have a good treatment team in place.

“We think the court can make a real difference in people’s lives.”