REHAB CLINICS HAVE TO TURN ONE IN THREE AWAY

More than a third of people seeking admission to drug rehabilitation
centres are being turned away because of a state-wide shortage of places, a
study by the Network of Alcohol and Drug Agencies reveals.

It found that demand for beds in alcohol and drug treatment centres run by
non-government agencies exceeds availability by 300 per cent.

The findings came as the Premier flagged his willingness to consider
setting up drug courts in NSW.

Drug courts, which are being given a trial overseas, allow people charged
with drug-related crimes to go before a judge within two months of their
arrest. If found guilty they are given an option of accepting jail or
joining a drug rehabilitation program.

Specialist judges act as case workers or parole officers by closely
monitoring offenders and ensuring they stick to the program.

A spokeswoman for Mr Carr said the Premier was keen to examine programs
being tested overseas and would hold talks with Sydney barrister Mr Ross
Goodridge, a leading advocate of drug courts.

Mr Peter Connie, the executive director of the Network of Alcohol and Drug
Agencies, said the the shortage of services was undermining attempts to
fight the drug epidemic in Sydney.

"We have a crisis in the capacity of these centres in NSW which is getting
worse by the month," Mr Connie said.

The detoxification and rehabilitation of people suffering drug or alcohol
problems is commonly undertaken in these residential centres which offer
programs lasting between one and 20 weeks.

The Network, which is made up of 100 non-government agencies, conducted the
study more than a year ago but since then the problem had grown more acute,
Mr Connie said.

The head of the NSW Council of Social Service, Mr Gary Moore, said that
unreleased figures showed that half of the $36 million in legal aid
allocated to criminal law was being spent on drug-related matters.

The NSW Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, told the Herald this week that
if drug-related crime was to be curbed the Government had to focus more on
rehabilitating heroin-addicted criminals and less on punishing them.

Mr Ryan said effective treatment for addicted criminals would help break
the cycle of crime in a way that punishments had failed to do.

He said yesterday: "Instead of being fined or imprisoned, the person should
be put on one of these programs to give them a chance to redeem themselves,
rather than if you're found guilty you've got three months jail or given
some sort of puny financial penalty, which means they have to go out to
steal to pay their penalty."

He said 60 to 70 per cent of all NSW crime was drug-related.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)