DRUG DIVERSION SCHEME TO EXPAND

A program to keep young addicts out of jail and help them beat a cycle of
drugs and crime - devised in Victoria - will be adopted across the country.

The joint Commonwealth-Victorian diversion program will give specially
trained magistrates the option of committing drug offenders to
rehabilitation, education and other forms of treatment rather than jail.

It will soon be operating nationwide.

The diversion initiative - now part of the federal Tough on Drugs program -
is aimed at people aged 17 to 25 who are found with small quantities of an
illegal drug and who have had little or no contact with the criminal
justice system for drug abuse in the past. It will not be available for
persistent drug abusers.

Under the program the magistrates will work with clinical drug assessors in
the Melbourne, Dandenong and Sunshine Magistrates Courts this year,
followed by other courts around the state over the next two years.

The extension of the Court Referral Evaluation for Drug Intervention and
Treatment Program will allow a bail magistrate to monitor the progress of
an offender referred for treatment.

In later sentencing for the same offence, magistrates can take into account
any treatment programs undertaken by those offenders.

On arrest, police will also be able to refer offenders to compulsory
treatment, and some officers will receive special training. The
Commonwealth has contributed $23 million, to be spent over three years, to
the program and the State Government has offered a further $12 million.

An extra $2 million will be paid by the State Government so that
rehabilitation beds, planned to span the three years of the program, can be
opened by the start of next year.

This will see another 24 residential withdrawal beds established, taking
the number to 124, and an increase in the number of residential
rehabilitation beds from 119 to 196. The number of supported accommodation
beds would rise from 257 to 379 under the program.

The diversion program, devised by the Victoria Police and magistrates, has
resulted in 394 people being referred temporarily from the justice system
and into treatment.

Prime Minister John Howard said it was sometimes inappropriate to send drug
addicts to prison. "Sending people to jail for addiction alone is
barbaric," he said.

Mr Howard said legitimate public discussion about drugs continued to occur
but there was consensus on the need to bolster law enforcement to keep the
drug trade in check.