FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1995                          (202) 616-0189
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
    RENO CALLS ON CONGRESS TO SAVE DRUG COURTS FROM BUDGET AXE

               RENO AND ONDCP DIRECTOR LEE BROWN
              ATTEND D.C. DRUG COURT "GRADUATION"

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General Janet Reno and Office of
National Drug Control Policy Director Lee Brown today visited a D.C
drug court as prosecutors, police and former drug addicts explained
how drug courts can help get tough on drug criminals and return
them to society clean and sober.

     Drug courts are designed to force criminals out of the cycle
of drug addiction before they return to the streets.  D.C.'s drug
court, acknowledged as one of the nation's most innovative, assigns
drug felons to a program of intensive coerced abstinence and
treatment for up to eight months.  The event featured several
participants who have completed the program successfully.

     Reno and Brown watched as program participants received
recognition for graduating.  Former participants who have stayed
clean were also honored.

     "Drug courts make sense, and they are tough on crime," said
Reno.  "Most of all, they work.  Congress should not turn its back
on one of the few tools we have to break the cycle of drug crime."

     The 1994 Crime Bill provided $1 billion in funding for drug
courts, but the House of Representatives voted to defund the
program after this fiscal year.  This week, the House is expected
to vote on a proposal to eliminate this year's drug court
appropriations, as well.



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