DRUG COURTS HAVE MERIT

We should pay attention to Attorney-General Wally Oppal's ideas about
dealing with chronic petty criminals.

As a former judge, he's well aware of what powers the revolving doors
of our judicial system. He would certainly have a sense of what isn't working.

The sad reality is that jail sentences aren't proving much of a
deterrent. Sure, they keep criminals from re-offending during the
times they're behind bars. But that's about all.

Unless society wants to lock up petty crooks indefinitely - and is
prepared to pay the enormous costs of doing that - we'd better try
some other strategies.

Unfortunately, those who use their imaginations to ponder other ways
of tackling the problem often end up accused of being soft on crime,
or of being too sympathetic to the criminals. That's an unfair and
foolish criticism.

The Wally Oppals of the world want to reduce crime. If that means
turning some petty criminals into productive members of society, then
that's a strategy that makes sense.

We can conservatively estimate that a majority of criminals, petty or
otherwise, have severe addiction, emotional and personality
disorders. Some are easier to treat than others.

Alcoholism and drug addiction are treatable, but require a costly
investment and the concerted effort of the patient. The damage from
fetal alcohol syndrome, though, isn't so easy to repair.

In some cases, we have to accept that a certain proportion of people
are bad apples.

Whatever solutions we do work out, however, have to acknowledge that
what makes a person a criminal often happened long before the first
crime. Fixing those faults aren't easy. We also know by now that just
throwing people in jail for a long time doesn't fix them at all.

- - Victoria News