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Today, ONDCP released President Bush's 2005 National Drug Control Strategy
during a visit to the first drug court in the nation in Miami, Florida.
Drug court programs are designed to give non-violent drug offenders a chance to avoid jail time by being diverted into supervised drug treatment programs. Drug courts save taxpayer money, save lives, and dramatically reduce re-arrest rates. During his visit to Judge Jeffrey Rosinek's court in Miami, Director Walters called the national drug court system "The most significant criminal justice initiative in the past 20 years."
President Bush's new strategy provides an increase of $30.5 million for creating new drug courts nationwide. The number of drug courts nationwide has grown from one in 1989 to over 1,600 today. Earlier in the day, Miami drug court Judge Jeffrey Rosinek allowed members of the news media to observe the court in session as clients were seen and evaluated for their performance. Those who have managed to stay clean received encouragement and applause from the judge and other court officials. More than 10,000 non-violent offenders have graduated from the Miami drug court with only a 4.3 percent re-arrest rate. Judge Rosinek and Director Walters were also joined by Karen Freeman-Wilson from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
The new Strategy also calls for the continuation of successful programs that stop drugs from reaching the U.S. mainland via so-called
"go-fast" boats. During a visit to the Coast Guard's District 7
base in Opa-Locka today, Director Walters received a demonstration of the HITRON armed-helicopter program
and was shown various other types of aircraft used in the interception of illegal drugs and traffickers attempting to reach the U.S. mainland.
Last year, the Coast Guard seized a record 240,518 pounds of cocaine worth approximately $7.7 billion during fiscal year 2004. The new Strategy calls for a $219 million increase in interdiction programs that stop drugs from reaching U.S. streets.
Later in the afternoon, Director Walters met with staff and clients from The Village drug treatment facilty. The Village is Florida's oldest residential drug treatment program. President Bush's new Strategy has asked for increased funds for Access to Recovery. This increase in drug treatment funding will allow more drug addicts to receive treatment services and expands choice of treatment options to include faith-based providers.
Links to news stories regarding Director Walters visit to Miami and the release of the 2005 National Drug Control Strategy:
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