Drug Treatment Court Offers Chance to Change

For John Straightnose, returning to Regina Drug Treatment Court is like a homecoming – he greets everyone he sees with an easygoing confidence, chatting about his kids, golf tournaments and career plans.

As he approaches five years of sobriety this August, his life is unrecognizable compared to when he first walked through the doors of the Drug Treatment Court office in September 2019.

Chaos of Addiction and Crime

“Before I came to drug court, my life was pretty chaotic,” John said. “When I share my story, I share about being stuck in active addiction for 20 years, starting at the age of 15 and continuing until I landed in drug court at 35 years old.”

The chaos of addiction often fuelled his criminal behaviour, stealing to get his next fix. His drugs of choice were mainly prescription opioids like hydromorphone, but there were times he also took crystal meth.

“Meth really took me to a dark place, and I wouldn’t want to ever go back to that place. It did scare me,” John said.

Between 2010 and 2019 he was in and out of provincial correctional centres seven different times on a continuous cycle of charges linked to his addictions, including impaired driving, property theft and multiple failures to appear in court and breach of probation.

“Every time I got out, it wasn’t long before I found myself back on the streets in Saskatoon searching for my drug of choice,” John explained. “I used to keep telling myself that I wouldn’t go back, I would only have one (fix) and I’d be okay, then one led to another.”

On August 3, 2019 he was arrested for shoplifting in Yorkton while six of his kids and their mother were outside watching him hit rock bottom.

A Chance to Change

He first heard about Drug Treatment Court while spending the August long weekend in police holding cells.

“I heard how it gives you second chances and at the time I was telling myself maybe I could get into the program and still use drugs again,” John admitted.

His mindset changed when he first met Drug Treatment Court Manager Judie Birns for his official assessment interview. John decided to stay clean and on his best behaviour to make sure he was accepted.

The goal of drug treatment court is to help offenders who struggle with underlying issues address the root causes of their addictions to break the cycle of criminal behaviour. Following an assessment period, offenders must plead guilty to their charges before they enter drug treatment court as an alternative to serving a sentence in custody.

The Regina program has capacity for 30 participants, while the Moose Jaw Drug Treatment Court can accommodate seven. This fall a new Drug Treatment Court will open in North Battleford, modelled after the one in Moose Jaw. The small group sizes allow the program to provide wrap-around services that meet the individual needs of each person.

On his first day in the program, John attended a graduation ceremony for those who were completing the program, where he was welcomed and encouraged. The supportive group atmosphere inspired him to take accountability going forward.

“It’s great to see that light go on – when someone makes that decision to change, their eyes change, their demeanour changes, the way they dress and talk and act changes,” Judie said with pride.

Wrap-Around Support for Success

Judie describes Drug Treatment Court as “one-stop-shop” looking at all aspects of a person’s life to support their unique physical, mental and emotional needs to get clean and stay sober. Participants complete 200 hours of individualized programming lasting from 12 to 18 months covering addiction, values, cultural and spiritual guidance, life skills, parenting, anger management, as well as education and employment skills.

Staff also support participants with basic needs like applying for housing and booking appointments with dentists, optometrists and doctors.

“Some people need medical operations, they’ve been in pain for years and using drugs to mask it – everybody’s circumstances are so unique,” Judie explained.

Regina Drug Treatment Court has on-site counsellors, a psychiatric nurse from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, a probation officer, and an income assistance worker from Social Services. They also offer psychological assessments through a pilot program with the University of Regina.

“It truly takes a community approach as each person has diverse needs and their treatment plan needs to reflect that,” Judie said.

The cornerstone of the program is Moral Reconation Therapy, which helps people identify triggers for criminal behaviour, develop coping strategies and improve moral reasoning, decision-making and setting positive goals.

“The most important part of this work is being there to support them to show you believe in them even when times get tough,” Judie said.

Erasing the Stigma

“Society sometimes writes people off when they see them as addicts on the street. They’re not write-offs. Something could have happened to them at some point in their life that changed and turned them into this addict that people see,” Judie said.

Battling addiction is a hard road and not everyone makes it through to graduation, but every individual success story creates a ripple effect of positive change for their whole families.

“They don’t want to be in the lifestyle that they are in and have no idea how to stop the cycle on their own. They are highly intelligent and skilled at survival on the streets. When they choose to change and put their effort into a substance-free and crime-free lifestyle, they can do amazing things.”

Judie describes the transformation as a butterfly effect with people going on to pursue higher education and build successful careers in accounting, construction, health care and even counselling and social work where they use their own stories to help other people who feel hopeless.

John, for example, recently finished his second year at the University of Regina and was officially accepted into the Faculty of Social Work. He currently works in a transition house, where he shares his story to encourage others to overcome their own addictions.

Feels Like Family

While education and career goals are important, Drug Treatment Court also helps reunite many families. While in the program, John worked closely with Social Services to regain custody and visitation with his nine kids.

Now four of his kids live with he and his partner full time in Regina, including their 16-month-old daughter. He maintains a good relationship with his other six kids and who live with their mother in another community. He loves bringing his family to golf or hockey tournaments and taking them camping.

Judie considers the alumni of drug treatment to be a big extended family. Watching each graduate raise their kids, find success and return to support their peers brings tears to her eyes. Some of the babies born to program participants are now 12 or 13 years old. She’s been asked to become a godmother to one of the children born to a program participant, and another participant named their child after her.

“I go to watch hockey and kids soccer and we have Christmas parties,” Judie laughs describing how the noise level has gone up with so many kids running around at gatherings. John chimes in that half of those kids are his.

North Battleford and Beyond

In May the Government of Saskatchewan announced funding for a third drug treatment court in North Battleford set to open in the fall of 2024. Judie’s dream is to set up a provincial peer support network among the alumni to promote long-term and sustainable recovery.

Meanwhile, John underscores the impact the program had on his life, and the opportunity it represents for those experiencing challenges with addictions and involved in a criminal lifestyle.

“Give it a shot, I wouldn’t have ever thought that my life would be this good. Before I came to the program, I didn’t know what I had to offer,” John said. “When I was out there in active addiction for 20 years, I never thought that I would get clean, I thought I was going to die living that way, so coming into drug court really changed my life.”