Criminal Justice - Drug Treatment Works -Brooklyn Treatment Court

I had the honor and the pleasure to attend the Brooklyn Treatment Court (BTC) Dismissal Calender Graduation on Thursday December 9, 2010 in Brooklyn, New York. On that date the Honorable Jo Ann Ferdinand, the presiding Judge of the court since its inception in 1996 was the master of ceremonies as the Project Director Joseph Madonia and his staff announced the graduates, thirty seven in all.
Several of the graduates described their unique journeys to the audience of family members, friends, BTC staffers, representatives of sponsoring agencies, lawyers and court personnel.  Each of the graduates had been arrested for narcotics crimes and demonstrated a need and a desire to become sober and productive.  Each of the graduates went through detoxification, counseling, some inpatient, some outpatient treatment, community service, some participated in a book circle others were on the BTC basketball team, on going drug screening and updates to the judge by the caring and tough BTC case managers.
Not all the journeys were smooth, but the case managers did not give up on anyone.  In the end all thirty seven participants reclaimed their health, their families, their self respect the respect of the judge and had their cases dismissed and sealed as a reward for their enormous efforts.  They were no longer defendants but active and healthy members of society.
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Bergen County New Jersey Court Ruling DWI "Cocaine Hangover"

A man by the name of  Kenneth Verpent was found guilty by a jury of driving while intoxicated in a Bergen County, New Jersey court despite the fact that his blood alcohol level was zero and that he passed the field sobriety tests administered by the police on the scene of a horrific accident that left a women by the name of Sabrina Patrick's spine fractured. It was reported by The Bergen Record that at the trial evidence was produced that Verpant tested positive for cocaine based upon a urine sample.  The expert testimony adduced by the prosecutor was that cocaine use after the high is over,  leaves the user depressed, drowsy and fatigued.  The expert, Forensic toxicologist H. Chip Walls from the University of Miami opined that cocaine stays in the human body for only a short time and then the "cocaine hangover" occurs. 

Apparently, the rebound or hangover effect of the use of certain substances has an effect even after the "desired purpose" for taking the substance has worn off.
So the question is can the "hangover" effect theory of prosecution be applied to drivers that may be impaired by the use of prescription drugs if the substance can be traced in their bodies?  Stay tuned.
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