Nearly half of Pima County juvenile arrests linked to drugs

Drug arrests are only going in one direction at Pima County Juvenile Court.

``Five years ago, we had 1,003 arrests for drugs. Last year, we had 1,877 arrests,'' says court spokeswoman Gabriela Rico.

Some of that jump, says Rico, can be attributed to zero-tolerance policies at many schools. ``There's also more awareness among parents,'' she says.

While drug offenses account for just 10.3 percent of all juvenile arrests in 1997, close to 50 percent of all juvenile arrests, says Rico, are for crimes somehow linked to drugs - such as theft, burglary and assault.

As for the drug of choice, ``marijuana is still the most popular thing,'' says Rico.

``But in the last five years, there's been a big upsurge in crystal meth.

``Sometimes kids who are brought in on crystal meth are very, very aggressive. It takes two or three officers to control them. And we are talking little kids - 11 or 12 years old.''

The center often sees its first drug offenders at around age 12 or 13. Many are caught at school.

But not all schools report it.

``Every school has the ability to handle something in-house or to dial 911,'' says Rico. ``We see a huge discrepancy in the schools. Some refer nothing; some refer all.''

If the police are called, more discretion may follow.

``If a kid is found with a joint on him, but he's never been in trouble before, chances are he won't be dragged down here,'' says Rico. ``For most first offenses, there will be a later court date.

``But if he's already on probation, maybe whacked out, he will be down here.''

For court, the child must show up with his or her parents.

``The child will be interviewed by the intake unit of juvenile court,'' says Rico.

``He has the option to admit the charges and accept the consequences, or deny them and ask for a trial.''

For most first offenders who own up, the consequences, says Rico, include a drug-awareness class, community service and some sort of small monetary restitution.

Once is usually enough. ``Sixty-five percent of the kids we see only once, for all offenses,'' says Rico.

Kids with drug arrests who refuse to see the light are assigned a probation officer. There are also random drug tests.

``The minimum probation is three to six months,'' says Rico. ``The maximum is until your 18th birthday.''

Juvenile court also contracts with various drug-treatment programs, both in and out of the system.

One of those programs, run by CODAC Behavioral Health Services, is Project PAZ, which offers counseling to youths either in juvenile detention or about to cycle back into the community or into some outside treatment.

Project PAZ is funded by tobacco tax dollars.

Juvenile court also refers drug abusers to several outside treatment programs.

As for who pays the bills, Pima County allots the court $100,000 annually for drug-abuse treatment, says Rico. In addition, the Arizona Supreme Court also allots an annual $250,000 block payment for inpatient treatment.

In return, the court tries to extract some sort of restitution.

``We assess parents on a sliding scale,'' says Rico. The court recoups about $1,000 a month from parents whose children wind up being placed with a treatment agency, says Rico. That figure represents about 20 percent of what the court spends, she says.

But those placements also include children who are having problems other than drugs, Rico adds.

Parents must dig into their pockets for other services as well. ``It's $40 a month just for probation,'' says Rico.