Sandra Antoniani: Prosecuting Drug Crimes While Helping Addicts Come Clean
Posted by Ralph Montesanto
on Aug 21, 2012
Sandra Antoniani is a lawyer who is under contract to the Federal Government to prosecute drug crime in Hamilton. There are between 1000 and 1200 new drug files each year with about 90% of them being the addicts themselves as opposed to high end traffickers. The drugs of choice are cocaine, oxycontin and hydromorphone with heroin making a come back. Addicts tend to have no fixed address, no substantial relationships with family and no employment. They support their habit with theft, break and entry and drug dealing.
Sandra is one of four federal drug prosecutors in Hamilton and she tends to see the same offenders in court on a regular basis. Most often, offenders receive 30 day to 6 month sentences and her concern is the cost to society. Not just the criminal aspects but the court and jail related costs. Often times when addicts go to jail they come out worse than before they went in. While in jail they often lose their housing, their clothing and their pets. They come out of jail and go right back to drugs.
To that end, she joined a new initiative at court called Substance Use Related Crime in Hamilton (SURCH). The aim of the program is to reduce recidivism, increase community safety and deliver a service that is not readily available. SURCH has one full-time employee and a number of volunteers who oversee 100 to 120 addicts a year. The addicts are first interviewed by a court addiction worker to determine if they are likely candidates for rehabilitation, and candidates must be motivated to make changes to their substance use and lifestyle.
Sandra is not only a prosecutor for drug offences but she also has a case load of around 20 drug addicts who are in the SURCH program.
Sandra is one of four federal drug prosecutors in Hamilton and she tends to see the same offenders in court on a regular basis. Most often, offenders receive 30 day to 6 month sentences and her concern is the cost to society. Not just the criminal aspects but the court and jail related costs. Often times when addicts go to jail they come out worse than before they went in. While in jail they often lose their housing, their clothing and their pets. They come out of jail and go right back to drugs.
To that end, she joined a new initiative at court called Substance Use Related Crime in Hamilton (SURCH). The aim of the program is to reduce recidivism, increase community safety and deliver a service that is not readily available. SURCH has one full-time employee and a number of volunteers who oversee 100 to 120 addicts a year. The addicts are first interviewed by a court addiction worker to determine if they are likely candidates for rehabilitation, and candidates must be motivated to make changes to their substance use and lifestyle.
Sandra is not only a prosecutor for drug offences but she also has a case load of around 20 drug addicts who are in the SURCH program.