NCJ Number
198587
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 37 Issue: 12 & 13 Dated: October/November 2002 Pages: 1567-1594
Editor(s)
Stanley Einstein Ph.D.
Date Published
October 2002
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the emergence of drug treatment courts in Australia, including context, comparison to the United States' model, selection of drug offender targets, and discusses the future of drug treatment courts in a federalist system.
Abstract
The drug treatment courts in Australia were developed within the context of rising property crime rates, the development of open-air illicit drug markets, and the rise in opiate overdoses. The manner in which the adoption of the United States concept of drug treatment courts was undertaken by politicians to deal with drug-use-related offenders is described. It is noted that this response was specifically directed to repeat property offenders at risk of imprisonment and is consistent with Australia's general harm minimization strategies for diverting offenders with a drug problem away from the traditional criminal justice response of imprisonment. Topic areas include a description of the problems of drug use and crime, implementation of drug treatment courts and related difficulties, criticisms, results from the early days of the New South Wales (NSW) drug treatment court, and the future. Tables and figures provide a descriptive overview of key indicators of drugs and crime in Australia; national drug strategy structures; and drug flow through the criminal justice system. A list of source references is provided.