Norway’s courts will now be able to sentence drug-addicted convicts to treatment programmes instead of sending them to jail.
Following trials in Bergen and Oslo, the narkotikaprogrammet (narcotics programme) is being introduced nationwide, effective immediately.
Announcing the expansion of the programme, Justice Minister Anders Andundsen said: “We’re rolling out a program that has been tested since 2006, in which addicts have been sentenced to treatment with concrete follow-up.”
“The goal is that more addicts will rid themselves of their drug dependency and fewer will return to crime,” Anundsen continued. “But if the terms of the programme are violated, the convicts must serve an ordinary prison term.”
Norway Independent, 14 February 2016
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