The Government has confirmed it is considering a drug court pilot where offenders can be sent to rehab instead of jail.
Justice Minister Simon Power's office confirmed a report in the Dominion Post today that the Justice and Health Ministries were working on the idea and would report back with costs and detail.
In May the Law Commission released its Controlling and Regulating Drugs: A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 report. It recommended consideration of a pilot drug court that would allow the Government to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of deferring sentencing of some offenders until they had undergone court-imposed alcohol and/or drug treatment.
Earlier this month the New Zealand Herald reported two courts would be set up in Auckland and would be quite different from the drug court based at the Christchurch Youth Court.
Drug courts could demand mandatory drug testing and drug assessments, frequent intervention and the involvement of community services such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and treatment programmes.
Research showed that properly resourced drug courts could reduce crime by up to 26 percent.
