The Hill News

Nine years before I was elected to Congress for the first of nine terms, I woke up from my last alcoholic blackout in a jail cell, under arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. I am alive and sober today - almost 30 years later - only because I had access to treatment for my alcoholism. The same access drug courts provide every day across America.

Drug courts not only save lives; they save taxpayer dollars, reduce crime and recidivism, and address the alarming epidemic of addiction among our veterans returning from war.

The most conservative studies show for every dollar invested in drug courts, $27 is saved on healthcare, welfare and foster care costs, emergency room visits, property losses and criminal justice costs.

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