Drug court success saving taxpayers a lot of money

Idaho’s Drug Court and Mental Health programs have been around for several years now, but local leaders are finally seeing the program’s successes in the form of solid numerical data.

Judge Greg Moeller of Idaho’s District 7 is one of the program’s biggest advocates. He spoke at a forum in Rexburg about those numbers.

According to Moeller, drug use offenders who go through the drug court program have a success rate of 70-80%. “Success is defined as getting off drugs, keeping them from relapsing, and turning him or her into a contributing member of our community,” said Moeller. That’s compared to drug offenders who go to prison where the addiction recovery success rate stands at a mere 20-30%.

The program is not only successful for the drug victims themselves, but also for Idaho financially. The state estimates that for every dollar spent on the drug and mental health court programs, it saves over three dollars in the long run, as fewer people go in and out of the prison system.

Those in the medical community who help drug addicts vouch for the program’s effectiveness. “I’ve had patients with drug problems who’ve wound up in drug court and those who didn’t,” said Dr. Clay Prince, the Chief Medical Officer for Madison Memorial Hospital. “I’ve seen over the years, those who got into that program were some of the only patients I’ve ever seen who really seemed to permanently achieve remission of their addiction.”

“I think of one patient that I’ve had for 10 years, and when I first met her she was a mess,” said Prince. “She was using various drugs and she was in and out of trouble with the law.Today she’s a happily married mom of three who hasn’t touched drugs in many years. She was only able to turn around when she went to drug court.”

Moeller said the program’s success has gained national attention, and said several other states have sent people to learn from Idaho’s success.