New Brunswick NJ Drug Charges Lawyer
The Law Offices of Alexander M. Iler represent individuals charged with marijuana possession and distribution, cocaine possession and distribution, possession of drug paraphernalia, and any other drug charge in the State of New Jersey including in New Brunswick, Freehold, Middletown, and Hazlet, NJ. Please contact our criminal defense lawyers for a free initial consultation regarding your drug charges at 732-842-7787.
What is Drug Court?
Drug Court and Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) are the two main diversionary programs in New Jersey at the Superior Court level. The main diversionary program at the Municipal Court level is called a conditional discharge.
Drug Court is essentially a non-adversarial process whereby the State and the defense attorney work together to provide assistance to a non-violent drug addicted offender.A defendant may be eligible for drug court under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14 (Special Probation for prison-bound offenders) or N.J.S.A. 2C:45-1 (Ordinary Probation) according to the guidelines of the Drug Court Manual. The Drug Court probationary period requires intensive probation supervision, including frequent and random urine testing, along with employment and other counseling and drug treatment programs.
Drug Court has been an extremely successful program in New Jersey in terms of rehabilitating drug addicted non-violent offenders. For example, of the one hundred and one (101) Monmouth County Drug Court graduates prior to January 29, 2009, only 1 was sent to State prison for a new offense after completing the program. Thirty four (34) were employed when they entered the drug court program and ninety five (95) were employed by the end of the program. Only 12% of the offenders had medical benefits when they started the drug program while 70% had benefits upon completion. Further, only 9% of the offenders had a valid driver's license upon entering the program. Upon graduation from the program, 70% had received a license or restored their driving privileges.
This program is also extremely helpful to the State by creating productive members of society while also alleviating some of the drug problems in New Jersey. For example, incarceration of one (1) adult defendant for a period of one year costs the state $37,000. The first year of drug court, on the other hand, costs the State between $5,400 and $19,500 depending on the type of treatment. As you can see, this program is beneficial to both the State and the defendant and is a positive result for clients with drug addiction problems.
