NC Drug Court

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6. The hook on the Good Shepherd's staff

                                        Drug courts have it.
                                        Other rehabs do not.

Anyone who has seen a stained glass window in a church in North Carolina has seen the Good Shepherd with his shepherd's staff. Anyone who asked why does the staff has a hook on the top knows: The hook allows the shepherd immediately to pull the wayward sheep back toward the shepherd. Immediately. Quick and certain. Sheep, like addicts, cannot be relied on to return to the fold. Hence, the shepherd's staff has a hook.

An addict's family cannot force the addict into treatment. The addict who does not want to go into treatment is unlikely to go unless there is a mechanism to say, "You will go, or you will experience consequences you had rather not experience, and quickly." A hook.

An addict who has started treatment, but who is wavering in his sobriety will resist returning to treatment unless there is a mechanism to say, "You must, go or you will experience consequences you had rather not experience, and you will experience them quickly." A hook. Most addicts who eventually recover will have a failure along the way. The trick is to make sure the failure does not turn into a full blown relapse. An addict who needs to go into residential treatment but who doesn't want to go will not go unless there is a mechanism to say, "You must, or you will experience consequences you had rather not experience, and you will experience consequences quickly." A hook.

An addict who is using does not want his probation officer to test him for drugs and will resist being tested it unless there is a mechanism to say, "You will test, or you will experience consequences you had rather not experience, and quickly." A hook.

An addict who is failing to go to treatment is unlikely to resume treatment unless there is a mechanism to say, "You must, or you will experience consequences you had rather not experience. Quickly." A hook.