(Alcohol, Marijuana Use, and Less Severe Drug Problems Qualifying Offenders for Drug Courts in the US) "Additional results reveal that, in practice, large numbers of drug courts are admitting offenders who are abusing alcohol and marijuana, but may not be clinically dependent or abusing more serious drugs. Consistent with the number of courts admitting individuals with lower levels of substance use and the number admitting individuals with DWI/DUI offenses, 65.6 percent of courts reported that a participant can be admitted into drug court for alcohol abuse only.

(Regional Growth of Drug Courts in the US) "The drug court movement started in Florida, but at the time of our survey the largest share of adult drug courts reported that they were based in the Midwest (28.0 percent, see Figure 2-2.1).4 About one-fifth of drug courts reported being in each of three regions: the New England/Mid-Atlantic region (20.6 percent), the South (22.5 percent), and the West (20.1 percent). The Mountain region had the smallest number of drug courts, with less than 10 percent reporting being based there (8.7 percent)."

(Offender Characteristics Which Predict Drug Court Success) "Overall, extremely few interaction terms were significant, broadly indicating that drug courts were comparably effective for all types of drug-involved offenders. Three exceptions were as follows. The drug courts were especially likely to produce a reduction in criminal behavior among offenders with a history of violence—indicated by a self-reported prior violent conviction (p < .001).

(Comparison of Self-Reported and Officially-Reported Recidivism By Drug Court Clients) "Regarding criminal acts that were officially detected, 52 percent of drug court offenders compared with 62 percent of comparison offenders were re-arrested over 24 months. Drug court offenders also averaged fewer total re-arrests than the comparison group (1.25 vs. 1.66). Yet, these results, as well as additional results that isolated drug-related re-arrests, were not statistically significant.

(Effectiveness of Drug Court Interventions) "Based on our analyses mainly of the self-report data, we find that drug courts were effective in reducing substance abuse relapse. Six months after entering drug court, program participants averaged fewer days of drug use per month (1.5 vs. 3.7 days; p < .01) and fewer days of serious drug use per month (1.0 vs. 2.2 days, p < .05) than the comparison group. By the 18-month follow up, the drug court cohort had significantly fewer occurrences of any drug use (56 percent vs. 76 percent, p < .01), serious use (41 percent vs.

(Effectiveness of Drug Courts and Predictors of Later Drug Use Among Offenders) "Consistent with the results reported above, we found that drug court participation led to significantly less drug use on both outcome measures in Table 4-3.6. Not surprisingly, we also found that a greater frequency of drug use at baseline significantly predicted a greater frequency at 18 months for both drug court and comparison offenders.

(Cost Savings From Diversion to Treatment) "The lifetime societal net benefits accruing to the United States from our diversion scenarios are statistically significant and sizable, at US$8.5 billion (when diverting 10% of eligible offenders) and US$22.5 billion (when diverting 40% of eligible offenders), relative to baseline. The national criminal justice savings are similarly significant and sizable, at US$4.8 billion and US$12.9 billion, respectively.

(Criticism of Drug Court Evaluations) "Drug court evaluations have been widely criticized for methodological weaknesses and data inconsistencies.

(Failure of the Probation System and the Growth of Drug Courts in the US) "Another reason for the proliferation of drug courts is the failure of probation departments to adequately address the needs of clients with addictions. Some of the same mechanisms drug courts use (treatment services, supervision, and case management) have traditionally been part of probation.

(Drug Court Operation) "Standard drug court programs usually run between six months and one year, but many participants remain for longer because they must complete the entire program cycle in order to graduate. Program completion entails being drug and arrest?free for a specified period of time and meeting such other obligations as securing housing or employment.