Drug treatment courts can jam addiction’s ‘revolving door’

Calls to expand New Zealand’s Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court rang out across the country this month, and for good reason.

Recent Ministry of Justice figures show that people who complete the drug treatment court programme are 50 percent less likely to reoffend in their first year than comparable high-risk, high-needs offenders who go through the District Court. Even four years after graduating, they are 20 percent less likely to reoffend. In the criminal justice world, these statistics are significant.

More than 400 people came together at a two-day conference at the University of Auckland to discuss these specialist courts, the significant research that underpins them, and to hear compelling stories of graduates of these courts who have turned their lives around.

It was impossible to leave those two days without a renewed sense of urgency: these drug treatment courts work, and more communities deserve access to them.

Te Whare Whakapiki Wairua | The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court began in 2012, based on a model that has been extensively evaluated internationally. We now have three of these specialist courts, all in the North Island: Waitākere in West Auckland, Auckland Central and Hamilton. Evidence shows that they can reduce reoffending, support long-term recovery, and improve the wellbeing of participants and their whānau.

What makes the drug treatment court model powerful is the wraparound support given to the high-risk, high-needs offenders whose substance use disorder is driving their offending. Put simply, if the major cause of the offending is addressed, then reoffending reduces.

Offenders can become productive members of the community, living normal lives. There are also fewer future victims. Judges are supported by a specialised team, where a collaborative, non-adversarial approach is taken and intensive, individualised treatment pathways set for participants.

Professor David Best of Leeds Trinity University, a leading addiction recovery researcher, was a keynote speaker at the conference. He has spoken with thousands of people about their experiences of recovery through drug treatment courts. What their stories have in common, said Best, is the value of wraparound support: ”People don’t do this alone, and it starts with positive human connections – genuine caring and supportive relationships, with boundaries and rules.”  

The drug treatment court might sound like an easier option than going to prison but, as many court graduates told the conference, the experience is tough. Offenders unpack their past while in the court – why they have been offending, making amends with people they have hurt and tackling their trauma.

To enter the drug treatment court, offenders must plead guilty and be facing a prison term of up to three years. They commit to a rigorous programme, including regular drug testing, often residential rehabilitation, counselling, recovery fellowship meetings, courses to address anger management and parenting issues, job training, and driver licensing as well as doing significant hours of voluntary community work.

The drug treatment court isn’t a soft option, and the results of this challenging work can be truly transformational.

Graduates who were estranged from their children because of their addiction spoke at the conference about how they’re now present, loving parents. They spoke about escaping the cycle of methamphetamine use and offending, to hold down jobs, or undertake tertiary study.

In fact, over 40 graduates of the drug treatment court are now working in the treatment sector. That lived experience is powerful.

When court participants are supported by those who have survived the same chaos they are trying to climb out of, something shifts. They can see what ‘after’ looks like, and that sense of possibility matters.

Methamphetamine use is rising. Wastewater testing shows meth use nationwide has doubled in the past year. Around 80 to 90 percent of offenders appearing in our courts have substance-use issues, many are in active addiction. Unless something different and meaningful happens, the ‘revolving door’ continues to spin.

What our drug treatment courts can provide is a circuit breaker.

Brain science makes it clear that you can’t punish someone out of addiction. As another keynote speaker at the conference, US trauma expert Dr Brian Meyer said: “Offenders with substance misuse often have histories of trauma and need their trauma and substance misuse treated together to stop offending.”

Meyer said incarceration without treatment makes people with substance misuse and trauma histories worse with exposure to more serious criminals who influence them negatively. Their behaviour becomes more antisocial and violent, and they reoffend more frequently. 

On the other hand, drug treatment courts provide treatment and accountability, reducing reoffending.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, for people whose offending is driven by an unaddressed substance use disorder, geography determines whether they receive a prison sentence or a life-changing opportunity.  

Running a treatment court requires up-front resources, sustained commitment and access to suitable treatment providers. But the research is clear here too – the return on investment is immense.

When a person with an untreated addiction goes to prison, the underlying problem typically remains. When they go through a drug treatment court, they have a real chance of long-term recovery, and that benefits not just them, but their whānau, their community and the public purse.

Now’s the time to strengthen, develop and expand these drug treatment courts so more communities can benefit. The evidence is here. The stories are here. The need is here.

What we require now is the will.