Tough Choices?

[richard]

Hi All
Not being a TV watcher it feels like I've missed out on the big talking point of this week...Oh Well!

Something that does concern me (and I'm sure others), however, is the increasingly coercive criminal justice process,  particularly with the imminent expansion of the 'tough choices' program.

Ironically enough this comes from a government who only this week have been promoting the virtues of 'empowerment' and 'choice'

I'd be particularly interested from anyone at the sharp end of the criminal justice process.  How empowering (or indeed effective) do these new measures feel?
Is it right to test people on arrest when they may have not committed any crime?  Should anyone testing positive be coerced into treatment, even if their use is unproblematic?
And to play devil's advocate for a moment are we lacking a coherent and cohesive response to what arguably have serious human rights implications?

Rich

[Alan J]

Dear Richie,

I am sure that you are not the only person to worry, share concern about the increasing convergance of the 'crimminal justice agenda' with the health led drug treatment system.

I am sure I am far alone from expressing anxiety about the mix'n'migle appraoch to treatment that takes a portion of crimminal justic here, a dose of medication there, to somehow ad-hoc together a 'treatment pathway/package'.

The UK gov started out by launching an attack on 'crime ' and the 'causes of crime' but seems to have forgotten the primary commitment made and opportunity missed.

While I recognise the major advance's made under this goverment I also hasten to add that we have far to go and that we are not unquestioning supporters blinded by a 'seat at the high table', nor are we so amiss as to neglect the river of people who'm among we swing. (Read your Ho Che Ming if this escapes you).

We will always confront 'tough choices' and judgement calls. It comes with the territory. Let's ensure we get them right.

:ove : Alan J.

[daveywales]

Another point I would like to raise is that by taking drug addiction out of health and putting it with 'drug crime' obviously it follows that the drug user is looked upon as someone who is doing wrong. Now I can accept you will get this warped opinion of drug users from the Sun and Daily Star readers, also the far right fundalmentalists, but to encounter it in organisations who are receiving money to help drug users is another ball game.
I have found people within Teir 3 organisations with the opinion that the drug users are privileged to get subtitute medication and clean needles. That we need to keep an eye on them incase they do other drugs, which if they do, then its off the programme there are plenty more who are maybe more worthy.
This attitude is reinforced with the governments "War on Drugs." How heroin addicts are a cancer in our society, unproductive, a leech on the welfare state, bring back national service. They hang around schools waiting to give the first free bag to get the kids hooked, then they are a slave to this nasty drug addict.
I remember the BBC flooded with angry calls because the heroin dealer in the film slammed on his brakes to avoid running over a kitten and people said "How dare you make this drug dealer into a person who cares about killing aninmals."
This is what happens when you make drug users part of the criminal system.

[simon]

Well it has saddened me recently that well an organisation has 'taken' some of our patients who are involved in the criminal justice system and asked us to take them back after whatever order is finished or they have got them stabilised with supervised urines. Supervised urines well that could be a whole new thread I hate the thought of this. Anyway if these pateints had come to us we would have prescribed for them.
I don't know if i live in some sort of dream land where when people come in for treatment we say yes and maybe everywhere else is soooo different?.
I am a Nurse prescriber and soon will have been preescribing substitute drugs for a year, I believe I was the first to do this, but there are Doctors who have done this for yonks.
I am in order overload as not sure which order means what and a recent patient's probation officer did not know what her order meant, this caused some difficulty as the patient did not know what she could do that might send her back to prison.
We have had a good number of successes in our dtto patients, however if a patient could get treatment from there own gp (And one of our gp's prescribes for the dtto's) they needn't have gone there.
i can see the big link with crime for some people but not sure why all the money seems to be sent in  the area of criminal justice.