VERDICT ON DRUG COURT: IT'S A WINNER

Australia's first Drug Court has slashed the rate of repeat offenders but
poorly supervised urine-testing procedures mean there is no way of analysing
the number of people who remain drug-free.

A review of the first year of the Drug Court, based at Parramatta Court, has
found two-thirds of the 224 drug-addicted offenders remained on the program
and only 13 per cent were sentenced to new offences.

The director of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Dr Don
Weatherburn, said of his review: "That might not sound too good but it's
actually very good for a group of recidivist property offenders addicted to
heroin ... about 60 per cent of people in jail for property offences will
return to jail within two years."

He said the court, which diverts injecting drug users facing jail sentences
into treatment and rehabilitation, was "travelling well" but it would be
another year before the reoffending rate could be adequately compared to the
general rate.

But poor supervision of urine-testing to test compliance with the Drug
Court's rules - and the habit of some clinics to give participants "ample
notice" of testing - would have to be resolved "if the Drug Court is going
to succeed".

"It's entirely possible that people can substitute urine that's not their
own, or if they're given sufficient warning of when the test is going to
occur, they can stay off heroin long enough to leave their urine clear," Dr
Weatherburn said.

"That means we can't tell to what extent people on the program are remaining
off heroin or off other drugs."

The Attorney-General, Mr Shaw, said he was concerned at the reliability of
the urine-testing and the Government was considering setting up a mobile
collection facility to ensure the integrity of the program.

The Health Department has also told participating methadone clinics to
review their procedures for collecting urine samples.

The Drug Court began on February 8 last year, funded for a $10 million
two-year trial, which has since been extended for six months.

In the first year, 224 people were placed on the program, with two-thirds
still undergoing rehabilitation and treatment that includes methadone (52
per cent of participants), abstinence (42 per cent) and naltrexone (6 per
cent).

All drug court participants are given a suspended prison sentence but the
drug court can punish them for breaching rules by sending them to jail for
up to 14 days.

In the Drug Court's first year, custodial sanctions were imposed on 80 per
cent of participants, with five days the average prison stay.

A small ceremony was held yesterday with the Drug Court's Judge Gay Murrell
to congratulate the "first graduates" of the court.

Mr Shaw said the 67 per cent retention rate of participants was encouraging
compared with a rate of 60 per cent in the United States drug courts, on
which NSW's court was modelled.

"While it is still too early to say with certainty how successful the Drug
Court has been, this report is certainly encouraging," Mr Shaw said.