Drug courts - A bridge between criminal justice and health services

There is striking overlap between the public health threats of drug abuse a nd crime. Crimes are often drug related, and drug abusers frequently encoun ter the criminal justice system. However, with few exceptions (e.g., Treatm ent Alternatives to Street Crime, TASC), the intersection of drug abusers w ith the courts has rarely addressed the defendants' drug problems. Drug cou rts represent an innovative approach to addressing both crime and drug abus e. Especially promising, and of great importance given that drug abuse is a ssociated with a host of other health and social service needs, is the link that drug courts represent between the criminal justice and health service s systems. Connections to health services are considered vital to drug cour ts but are poorly understood. The need for a bridge between criminal justic e and health services is discussed, and a conceptual framework for its inve stigation is presented. Using data collected from site visits of 14 drug co urts across the United States and Puerto Rico, the services available to dr ug court clients are described and linkages between drug courts and health services (including drug treatment providers) are explained. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.