Society tends to offer little sympathy to drug addicts and alcoholics who commit crime to feed their addiction. After all, many end up on an endless cycle of prison lags only to use drugs inside where they learn new ways of committing crime through hardened career criminals.
But what if addiction was treated as a health issue and in cases where a person was assessed as suitable, that person could avoid another prison stint and instead go through supervised treatment over a period of 18-20 months to then return to the community clean and sober, with a support structure in place and a fighting chance of building a better life?
Since 2012 a pilot programme entitled the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts has been running at the Waitakere and Auckland District Courts.
Read more HERE,
Published New Zealand Law Society, November 30, 2018.
