U.S. "Drug Czar" to Visit UAB

Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), will visit with officials of UAB’s (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Breaking the Cycle program on Tuesday, August 22. McCaffrey, a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet and the administration’s top spokesperson on illicit drug use, will tour the Breaking the Cycle facility at 401 Beacon Parkway, present a citation to the program staff and meet with UAB officials and representatives of the Jefferson County Court system.

August 18, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), will visit with officials of UAB’s (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Breaking the Cycle program on Tuesday, August 22. McCaffrey, a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet and the administration’s top spokesperson on illicit drug use, will tour the Breaking the Cycle facility at 401 Beacon Parkway, present a citation to the program staff and meet with UAB officials and representatives of the Jefferson County Court system.

In 1996, UAB’s Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) Program received a grant from ONDCP for Breaking the Cycle (BTC), a national research demonstration project. BTC provides drug screening and intervention with all felony defendants between the time of arrest and first court appearance.

“The program aspires to ‘break the cycle’ between drug use and crime,” says Foster Cook, director of UAB’s Substance Abuse Programs within the department of psychiatry. “We have seen remarkable results since we began in 1997 and we are proud to have this opportunity to demonstrate to General McCaffrey the success of the BTC program and the impact it is having on drug use in Jefferson County.”

BTC requires that all felony defendants in the Jefferson County Court System be tested for drug use after arrest and throughout the legal process. Defendants who test positive are referred to TASC for appropriate interventions. Non-compliant offenders receive judicial and/or internal sanctions. Compliant offenders can receive early, incentive-based sentencing alternatives, including deferred prosecution and drug court.

According to results of the 1998 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program, 67.1 percent of male offenders were positive for drug use at the time of arrest. In contrast, only 23 percent of BTC offenders tested positive during routine, random urinalysis after intervention occurred.

General McCaffrey will arrive at the BTC site at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 22. Media representatives are invited to accompany McCaffrey as he tours the site at 9:15. There will be an award presentation and media availability at 10 a.m. McCaffrey, Foster Cook and Jefferson County Judge Pete Johnson will be available for the media.