2011年6月17日 星期五

Drug Rehab to Be Extended to Petty Offenders in Scotland


Petty thieves and small time crooks such as shoplifters and burglars could soon be subject to court-ordered drug rehab and on-going drug testing in Scotland. Presently, only those convicted of serious crimes receive mandatory drug testing and drug rehab.

Scottish cabinet ministers, impressed by the success of the existing program for serious offenders who have drug problems, agreed to extend the scope of the program to thousands of lesser offenders to see if similar progress can be made. Nearly half - 48 per cent - of the more serious offenders who have been through the court-ordered program have not been rearrested two years later.

If the Cabinet's plan passes, all courts would be empowered to hand drug rehab and drug testing orders to any offender if the courts felt there was a clear drugs link. Cabinet ministers have asked officials to come up with firm proposals on how to extend the drug rehab and testing orders, and for which offences.

The minister for community safety, Fergus Ewing, said, "There is undoubtedly a need for quicker access to drug treatment at an earlier stage for low tariff offenders. Too many of our young people fall into drug abuse and fall out of life. Extending the scope of drug treatment and testing order options may help us catch more of them before they fall too far."

The Scottish cabinet ministers showed an enlightened view of offenders suffering from the ravages of substance abuse and addiction. Saving lives and returning people to a productive role in society beats rotting away in a jail cell, just waiting to get out and return to drugs and crime. No details of the treatment program were available, but to reduce recidivism among this group by 48 per cent is an impressive and enviable statistic for Scotland's court-ordered drug rehab programs.








Rod is a Florida based freelance writer who contributes articles on health
Contact: info@drugrehabreferral.com

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