Criminal justice response

There are a range of opportunities for intervention in relation to an offender’s drug and alcohol use within the criminal justice system. However, not everyone will be ready or willing to take up the opportunities offered and it is worth remembering that it hard to change regular patterns of drug and alcohol use. A referral or intervention at any of these stages is no guarantee of reduction or abstinence of substance use.

However, a range of research reports (Hough 1996; Newburn and Elliott 1999) highlight the key points (often involving a ‘crisis’ for the offender) at which the criminal justice system may effectively intervene to address drug misuse issues. Namely, at the point of:

• Arrest ; via arrest referral schemes that operate within, or attached to, the custody suite of police stations. On arrest, people with drug or alcohol offences, or related offending, can be referred to the arrest referral worker for advice, assessment and further specialist intervention.
• Bail ; a condition of bail can be to attend treatment provided directly in bail hostels. Or offenders can voluntarily take up this service while in the hostel. This usually takes the form of community drug services operating ‘satellite’ services within the bail and probation hostels.
• Court proceedings ; via referral to support/treatment options as part of the conditions of sentence. This includes the DTTO (Drug Treatment and Testing Order) that require people who agree to attend treatment. The evidence on whether this works is equivocal.
• Custody ; via referral to specialist provision schemes in prison – Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Through-care (CARATs). CARAT schemes place a particularly strong emphasis on the role of Probation and specialist drug agencies in managing the transition from, and continuity of care through, prison and post-release in the community.

The expansion of treatment initiatives working with those using illegal substances has not been matched by a parallel growth in alcohol services. Waiting lists in some areas (particularly in larger metropolitan authorities) may mean that treatment in the community is not viewed as a viable option by the courts. The rapid expansion in voluntary sector provision has resulted in a recruitment ‘crisis’ in some agencies – with a shortage of trained/qualified counsellors and other drug specialists.

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