Monthly data were analyzed between 1985 and 1990. The increase in drug arrests during the 6-year period affected all aspects of New Jersey's criminal justice system. Moreover, the increase in drug arrests was exacerbated by new legislation calling for mandatory sentences for drug offenses. A special drug court was established to ease case backlogs in eight of New Jersey's 21 counties. Evaluation data indicated that the special drug court did not reduce case processing times or court backlogs. This was partially due to the fact that about 90 percent of personnel involved in the special drug court were not assigned to postindictment courts and operational managers of most programs did not consistently report their specific backlog reduction efforts. In addition, the special drug court program lacked clear vision and centralized leadership, State-imposed multiple interventions created program development confusion, and local court autonomy was not maintained. Supplemental data on case processing times and postindictment backlogs are appended. 3 references, 2 notes, 1 table, and 3 figures