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Calls to expand the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court across the country.

AODTC was launched in New Zealand in 2012 as a pilot to steer high-risk, high-need offenders away from prison.

Offenders must plead guilty and face a likely prison term of up to three years for drug offences, committing to a tough 12- to 18-month program including regular drug testing, AA or NA meetings, and counselling.

The courts are incredibly successful in the United States, resulting in some prisons in Texas closing due to lack of need.

Dr Doug Marlowe, a global expert on drug-court policy, told Kerre Woodham early studies of the system showed low rates of people committing new crimes and high rates of people completing treatment, avoiding jail sentences, and avoiding probation revocations.

He says that when Judges take a personal interest in the treatment the participants are receiving, their influence and authority in the community helped to bring more resources to bear for their clients.

Marlowe told Woodham that treatment courts raised all ships – raising the quality of treatment, the quality of defence council representation, and the quality of probation supervision.

“Treatment is the core of the model, and if you don’t have good treatment, you know, your outcomes are severely limited.”  

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