Middlesex DA Announces Drug Diversion Program for Criminal Defendants

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MA – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Wednesday the county's first pre-arraignment drug diversion and treatment program for adults.

A collaboration with Lowell House, Inc., the initiative aims to provide critical intervention to substance abusers during their earliest contact with the criminal justice system.

The one-year pilot program will be available to defendants charged with drug possession and other companion charges in any of the communities served by Lowell District Court. Making the program available prior to arraignment gives participants the option to avoid a charge on their criminal record, which often hinders job and housing prospects.

Defendants charged with serious offenses, including violent crimes, will not be eligible for the diverison program.

"Being charged with a crime can be a traumatic event in a person’s life; however, in the immediate aftermath it can also provide a critical window of opportunity for intervening and introducing the value of alcohol or drug treatment," District Attorney Ryan said in a statement. "By working collaboratively with Lowell House, Inc., local police departments, defense attorneys and other community partners, this program will fill a critical service gap for individuals just entering the criminal justice system to direct them to meaningful treatment."

Individuals identified as eligible for diversion will do so with the help of the group-based Adult Diversion Alternatives Program, run by Lowell House. The program runs a total of 16 weeks, and seeks to curb participants' risk for future drug use and criminal offenses.

"Lowell House provides a lifetime continuum for individuals in the ADAP program. The sixteen weeks of groups is just the beginning of a treatment process for a disease that has no cure but rather a solution of vigilance, community supports, determination and success," said Bill Garr, Executive Director of Lowell House, in a statement.

Upon successful completion of the program, defendants' charges will be dismissed and there will be no entry on their record. Participants will also be considered post-arraignment on a case by case basis.

The program is voluntary; however, expulsion or failure to comply with the rules will result in prosecution.

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