NCJ Number
179115
Journal
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 172-175
Editor(s)
J. Jason Payne-James
Date Published
December 1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines the way American drug courts operate and the changes that would be required were they to be introduced into the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The essential feature of drug courts is that they provide a slow track treatment service where the court retains control and employs the treatment services, which are required to provide a program approved by the court. That program will be supported by urinalysis, frequent visits to the court by the offender and immediate sanctions-- including periods in custody--if the offender fails to respond. Running drug courts in Britain would require structural and ideological changes. Structural changes include deciding which government department should fund a drug court; the Home Office, Department of Health and the Lord Chancellor's Department are all possible contenders. There are also difficulties with the role of the judge. In Britain the nearest equivalent would be a stipendiary magistrate, who does not have the standing in the local community or the extent of community involvement that they do in America. Drug courts involve a mix of coercion and treatment, and the introduction of coercion would be difficult for many British treatment services to accept. References