Your Tax Dollars at Work

Victoria was an 18 year old virgin. She was at the head of her high school class. She was a top basketball player and volunteered after school at the local hospital. She attended church regularly and was active in the youth program there.

Mr. Conners from the federal government sat with the county commissioners and went over the numbers. For every person sent thru Drug Court, they would receive $7,500. This could be used for anything. Fixing pot holes. They just had to provide a judge and a probation officer.

"It all about numbers" Mr. Connor said. "Get your case load up and you can have a very nice monthly check." The county commissioners liked the idea. Finally, one of the commissioners asked Connor "So how does the federal government come out on this?"

Connor replied "It costs us $50,000 a year to house these people in prison. By sending them to Drug Court it only costs us the $7,500."

That made sense to the commissioners.

"Just remember, get those cops out on Saturday night and bring them in."

It made sense and the next Saturday afternoon the sheriff sat with his patrolmen. "They want drunk drivers and drunk drivers they shall have. You boys have my permission, hell my endorsement, to sit in the parking lots of the bars and pull them over when they leave."

Dismissed, the patrolmen headed out. Officer Fife went to the Blue Dolphin bar and backed into a side parking slot.

The 90 pound Victoria came pulling in and excitedly went into the bar to her sisters birthday party. Once there she was talked into having a beer. Her first ever. The peanuts were salty and she eventually finished it off. Before she knew it, the waitress sat another in front of her. She tried to explain that she did not want it but it was no use.

As the evening wore on, she finished the second beer and excused herself. "We have a track meet in the morning."

She went out to her car and patrolman Fife saw her, the first one to leave the bar. As she pulled out he hit the lights and pulled her over. She had never been stopped before and was nervous. He smelled alcohol on her breath and gave her a breathalyzer which she failed. Her 90 pounds just could not handle two beers.

She was taken in and booked. The next week she went to court and the judge sent her to Drug Court. She was also ordered to go thru rehab. There she was put on Syboxone, an opioid. Once out of rehab, she went to Drug Court and was ordered to attend Narcotics Anonymous.

At the NA meetings she met some other people, one being Buzz. He had been out of prison for a week and had been very friendly toward her. After the meeting everyone went out for coffee and Buzz sat next to her. She looked his tattoos and his buff out arms.

The two hit it off even though he was 38 years old. She saw him at the next meeting and they went for coffee but no one joined them. Soon they were an item.

She continued her school activities until she found she was pregnant.

When she had Buzz's child she was concerned, this was not the plan she once had.

Then her Suboxen was cut off and she was forced to buy it on the street. She learned that heroin was about the same and much cheaper. Buzz got her some and helped inject her. Soon she had her own "Rig."

As she got more strung out, Drug Court saw she was acting differently and tested her. She tested positive for heroin and her child was taken from her. Then she found she was again pregnant.

The second child was born addicted and taken. Things were not going well.

Then Buzz went back to prison and she had no connection so she had to turn to prostitution for her heroin.

The judge in Drug Court could see that things were not going well for her. But, they had been paid $7,500 and they had to keep going.

The NA meeting was in trouble. The old-timers had left and it was mainly court slippers. They did not want to be their either. Soon the meeting went dark.

The judge was baffled. Things had been going so well for Victoria and now all of this. Then Victoria's younger sister came into drug court for being caught smoking a joint with her friends in the bathroom at school.

The sister also met an excon named "Killer." Killer had three tear drops tattooed on his face. They became an item, she was sent to rehab, got hooked on Syboxone and then got pregnant. It was the same as her sister.

And like her sister, when cut off of Syboxen, she went to heroin and when killer went back to prison, she began hooking.

The two hooking drug court sisters, stood before the Judge. "How can this be. The man from the federal government said this would be great for our community."

The NA meeting went dark and the girls had to go two towns over to comply with the terms of drug court.

The sisters children picked up the father's genes and became criminals and they too wound up in Drug Court some years later.

Eventually Drug Court was seen as a gigantic failure.