By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Felix P. Camacho yesterday celebrated the success of Guam’s juvenile and adult drug courts as he proclaimed May as “Drug Court Month” in recognition of the value drug courts have in the national effort against drug abuse.
A proclamation signing ceremony was held in the Justice Monessa G. Lujan Appellate Courtroom witnessed by Chief Justice F. Philip Carbullido, Adult Drug Court Judge Steven S. Unpingco and Juvenile Drug Court Judge Arthur R. Barcinas.
Drug court officials and representatives from the private sector, the Public Defender Service Corporation and Judiciary Committee chairman Senator Jimmy Espaldon’s office were also present.
“We must act as a community to help everyone affected because drug abuse affects us all in some way. We all know families who shoulder the burden of a loved one battling addiction and that’s why drug courts are necessary,” Camacho said in a statement.
During the proclamation signing, the governor and Carbullido thanked drug court Judges Unpingco and Barcinas for their efforts, which have led to a reduction in the recidivism rate of drug law offenders.
The two leaders of the executive and judicial branches of government also thanked the practitioners and participants of Guam’s drug courts and asked all residents to recognize their efforts.
With only 12 drug courts started in 1994 in the United States, the number has grown to 1,927 drug courts as of December 2006.
Guam’s juvenile and adult drug courts, which were created in 2002, are among the nation’s success stories, as the national recidivism rate for drug law offenders one year after graduation is 16.5 percent.
The recidivism rate for juvenile drug law offenders on Guam is 9 percent; for adults, zero recidivism within the first year of graduation.
According to the governor’s office, the adult and juvenile drug courts on Guam are among only 38 in the nation with recidivism rates below 10 percent.