The ABC Australia reports….
A New South Wales solicitor who represents some of the region’s most drug-dependent criminals says the opening of a drug court in Dubbo will be a step toward improving “postcode justice”.
Key points:
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The specialist drug court preferences intensive treatment rather than prison for drug-dependent offenders
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The Dubbo drug court is the state’s fourth
- The interventionist program is a type of suspended sentence
Legal Aid solicitor in charge at Dubbo, Bill Dickens has been advocating for a drug court model for the region since 2010.
The specialist court is the fourth of its type to open in NSW, joining those currently in Sydney CBD, Parramatta, and Toronto in the Hunter region as a pathway for offender reform.
By breaking the cycle of drug dependency and criminal activity, the use of drug courts has shown to reduce short-term and long-term re-offending by about 17 per cent.
The intervention-style program is pivotal to a multi-agency effort to tackle the ice epidemic that is plaguing many regional communities across the state.
Sean Hocking
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