Power is still looking backwards

District Court Judge Lisa Trewman has called for a specialist Drug and Alcohol Court. TVNZ reports;

“District Court judge Lisa Tremewan says just jailing drug and alcohol offenders does not work.”

This much is clear so we need to explore new solutions that tackle the drivers of crime. At present we have a system that merely provides a punitive response to offending;  

“Under her proposed drug court offenders would be coerced into undergoing supervision, counselling and drug-testing. Research shows if these measures are used, the likelihood of reoffending more than halves”

Any measure that reduces drug dependency and associated criminal activity should be supported. Certainly there is overseas evidence pointing to the success of such a Court. Sadly;

“Justice Minister Simon Power refused to discuss the idea of a drug court”

A predictable and unfortunate response from Power. I hope that he has a change of heart because this idea could prove to be a great success.