fb-pixelLawmakers back bid to fight drug crimes with treatment - The Boston Globe Skip to main content
Montpelier

Lawmakers back bid to fight drug crimes with treatment

Court diversion programs that require drug treatment, which Vermont prosecutors and health care providers have been using to fight a statewide heroin epidemic, report that at least 80 percent of participants are conviction-free after a year. Chittenden County state’s attorney T.J. Donovan helped start one of the programs, called Rapid Intervention Community Court. Donovan said it works because it integrates public health and public safety. Governor Peter Shumlin supports legislation standardizing the practice throughout the state, saying treatment costs about a 10th of the cost of incarceration, a huge savings for the state. The measure passed the Senate on Thursday and it is expected to pass in the House. Experts say it would be one of the nation’s most comprehensive diversion laws.