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26.03.04 - no embargo
Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: A failing attempt to deal with a problem of our own making.
The NAO reports today on its assessment of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders.
Transform spokesperson Steve Rolles said:
“Today's NAO report confirms what has been widely known in the drugs field for some time, that DTTO's, whilst useful in a small minority of cases, are not effective for the majority of drug misusing offenders. The NAO reports that in the three pilot areas 80% of offenders on the order had been reconvicted within two years, and that is only the ones who were caught.
“To understand this failing we need to consider the bigger picture. It is the policy of prohibition that is responsible for bringing these drug users into contact with the criminal justice system in the first place, criminalizing their drug use and pushing many into offending to pay the inflated prices of the illegal market. The dirty street drugs and paraphernalia of the illegal market also ensure that the dangers of drug use are maximised.
“The Government is clearly pursuing conflicting polices; creating offenders through the enforcement of drug prohibition, and then using the same enforcement structures to coerce them into ineffective treatment programmes aimed at reducing offending. This can never be a long-term solution. Even if DTTO outcomes improved by 100% they would still be hopelessly inadequate.
“The criminal justice system should clearly not be responsible for dealing with serious health problems. In the short term what is required is for problem drug users to be able receive the treatment they need before they come into contact with the criminal justice system. In the longer term we need to move towards the mainland European model where problematic drug use is dealt with as a health issue and not a criminal one. This means decriminalising personal drug use, providing legally regulated supplies of drugs, and reinvesting enforcement spending into treatment, education and addressing the social problems that underlie problematic use.”
Ends
Notes for editors
For information please contact Transform on 0117 941 5810
For copies of the report see http://www.nao.org.uk/pn/03-04/0304366.htm
Drugscope press release : http://www.drugscope.org.uk/news_item.asp?a=3&intID=1107
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