Drugs and the law - Hot Topics 59 - Find Legal Answers

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Referral to the Youth Drug and alcohol courtTo be referred, a young person must:> be charged with an offence able to be dealt with bythe Children’s Court (that is, not a serious indictableoffence, a sexual offence or a traffic offence)> have an alcohol or drug problem> plead guilty> not be eligible for a caution or conference under theYoung Offenders Act> be likely to have a detention order imposed> agree to participate in the Youth Drug and AlcoholCourt program> live in (or have family, work or other strong connectionswith) the areas served by the Campbelltown, Cobhamor Bidura Children’s Courts.assessment and reportThe Youth Drug and Alcohol Court will initiallyadjourn a young person’s case to allow for an assessmentby a court-based intake officer from the Department ofJuvenile Justice.If considered suitable by the Youth Drug and AlcoholCourt magistrate, the person is referred to a jointassessment and referral team, which undertakesan intensive, holistic assessment and reports to themagistrate. If the young person is assessed as not eligible,the matter will be referred back to the original Children’sCourt.Magistrate’s decisionThe magistrate then determines whether to put the youngperson in the program (if there is a place). Sentencingwill then be deferred, with the young person placed ona six month Griffiths remand. A typical program planmight include reporting back to the court as directed,submitting to regular drug and alcohol testing, andbeing of good behaviour. Successful completion of theprogram is taken into account in sentencing.THe MeriT scHeMeThe Local Court program for diversion to treatmentscheme is called MERIT (Magistrates’ Early ReferralInto Treatment) 15 . MERIT is not available at every LocalCourt, but is being extended to Local Courts aroundNSW.MERIT allows for a case to be adjourned, generallyfor three months, while the defendant undertakesdrug rehabilitation. Participants are granted bail withattendance at MERIT program activities being acondition of bail.Suitable MERIT candidates are not required to entera plea to the charges before being accepted into theprogram.Participation in the MERIT program is voluntary. Aperson assessed as suitable can elect not to participate inthe program and instead have their matter referred backto the Local Court for determination or sentencing.Bail a pre-requisiteMERIT participants are granted bail, generally for threemonths, with attendance at MERIT program activitiesbeing a condition of bail. Generally, the defendantwill be required to attend court about six weeks aftercommencing treatment to monitor their progress.Failure to attend is reported to the court, but is nottreated as a breach of bail conditions. Similarly, failureto respond to treatment, or to undertake treatment, doesnot result in any punishment, or any additional penaltyfor the offence charged.treatmentSuitable candidates who choose to participate are offereddrug treatment considered appropriate to their situation,including medically supervised detoxification, homedetoxification, methadone or other pharmacotherapy,residential rehabilitation, and/or counselling.completion of programSatisfactory completion of the program will be reported tothe court and will be taken into account in determiningpenalty.Who can participate?Potential candidates for participation in the MERITprogram must:> be suitable for release on bail> be over 18> not be charged with assault, sexual assault or a whollyindictable offence> have a demonstrable and treatable illicit drug problem> be assessed by a court-based clinician as suitable for theprogram> be approved for participation by the magistrate.15. See the MERIT scheme webpage at http://lawlink.nsw.gov.au/meritDiversion from the criminal justice system 27
Contacts and further readingThe Legal information access centre (Liac)in the State Library of NSW can help you withlegal information including cases, legislation andcommentary. The service is free and confidential.Contact details are on the back cover.Information on getting legal advice is on p 20.useful resOurcesDrug info @ your library provides up to dateinformation about alcohol and drugs on the websitewww.druginfo.sl.nsw.gov.au/ and through local publiclibraries in New South Wales.nsW office of Drug and alcohol policywww.druginfo.nsw.gov.au/homeContains lots of information on drugs and relatedcriminal justice issues, including links to manypublications and reports, both government and nongovernment.national Drug and alcohol Research centrewww.med.unsw.edu.au/NDARCWeb.nsf/page/PublicationsThere are many recent articles available here in full text; click on Monographs or Reports to browse.nsW Bureau of crime statistics and Research(BocsaR)This site has a wealth of information on drugs, crimeand other related topics. Go to www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_topicsand browse the subject list to find relevant articles andreports, such as:‘Driving under the Influence of Cannabis: The Problemand Potential Countermeasures’, Craig Jones et al, Crimeand Justice Bulletin 87, National Drug and AlcoholResearch Centre and NSW Bureau of Crime Statisticsand Research, Sydney, 2005.‘Does Prohibition Deter Cannabis Use?’ DonWeatherburn and Craig Jones, NSW Bureau of CrimeStatistics and Research, Sydney 2001.australian national council on Drugswww.ancd.org.au/publicationsUnder ‘Publications’ there are research papers andposition papers available in full text, including therecent position paper on methamphetamines.Drug Laws in new south Wales, Peter Zahra et al,Federation Press, Sydney, 1998.Lawyers practice Manual (Chapter 1.09) ThomsonLegal and Regulatory, Sydney (Looseleaf).Rough Deal: a plain english guide to DrugLaws in nsW, Steve Bolt, Redfern Legal CentrePublishing, Sydney, 2005. Available in all NSW publiclibraries.the politics of heroin, Alfred McCoy, LawrenceHill Books, New York, 1991.Modernising australian Drug policy, Alex Wodakand Timothy Moore, UNSW Press, Sydney 2002.Drug Law Reform: Beyond prohibition, AndrewMacintosh, Australia Institute, 2006. Available fromwww.tai.org.au – go to Discussion Papers.From Mr sin to Mr Big: a history of australianDrug Laws, Desmond Manderson, Oxford UniversityPress, Melbourne, 1993.Review of the Police Powers (Drug DetectionDogs) Act 2001 NSW Ombudsman, Sydney, 2006.‘Where there’s smoke’ – cannabis and mentalhealth, Mental Health Council of Australia, 2006.This report examines the relationship between cannabisand mental illness, interventions and treatments.Available from http://www.mhca.org.au/nsW parliament Library Research papersThese excellent resources are available online fromwww.parliament.nsw.gov.au Go to informationresources, then research papers to find reports such as:Crystal Methamphetamine Use in NSW, Talina Drabsch,NSW Parliamentary Library Briefing Paper No19/2006.28HOT TOPICS 59 > Drugs and the law
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