MONTICELLO – The drug abuse problem continues to worsen across the region and the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office wants to take a new approach to low-level drug abusers.
DA Meagan Galligan told the oversight committee of the county legislature on Thursday that she is exploring the creation of a pre-arrest diversion program.
“It is a carrot-and-stick mentality if the carrot is that at the end of a three- or five- or six-month period, the district attorney will decline to prosecute you, you have an incentive to go into treatment immediately,” she said. “From our perspective, particularly as a result of bail reform where we can’t ask for bail pending release to in-patient treatment, the site of arrest has become extremely important.”
Other counties in the region have implemented similar programs aimed at helping low-level drug abusers break their habit.
